Murray beaten by Coric in Dubai

 

Originally published on 26/02/15

The 18-year-old lost just five points on serve as he clinched a dominant 6-1 6-3 victory to reach the semi-finals. He is the first teenager to reach the last four in Dubai since Rafael Nadal won the title in 2006.

It is Coric’s second win against a top-ten opponent, having upset Nadal in Basel last year. 

The Croatian, who is currently ranked No.84 but will move up the rankings following his run in Dubai, can consider himself fortunate to be in the draw at all after he lost in the final round of qualifying to world No.350 Fabrice Martin.

However, when Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew from the tournament with an illness, Coric took full advantage of his second opportunity, beating Malek Jaziri and Marcos Baghdatis before upsetting Murray in the last eight.

“It’s one of the biggest wins, for sure,” said Coric. “I was just trying to maintain my level, stay in the rallies as long as I can, which I was doing really well. I was also running very well.

“I'm still struggling a little bit with the best players when they are playing really good obviously. I always need to be on 100 per cent, and when I'm on 100 per cent, mentally and also tennis wise, then I think I can play with them.”

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