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Top seed Borna Coric of Croatia beat Rinky Hijikata of Australia 6-2, 7-6(2) in the second round of the Winston-Salem Open on Tuesday (August 22). The match lasted for less than two hours, as the 26-year-old cruised to a dominant victory without much fuss.
While Hijikata fought well in the second set and gave the Croat a run for his money, Coric proved too strong for him and was able to finish the match off in straight sets. Coric will now take on Michael Mmoh of the United States in the third round on Wednesday, where he should start as the favourite once again.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match between Coric and Hijikata:
#1 Rinky Hijikata struggled with his first serve
Hijikata struggled to get his first serve in, especially in the first set. He had a first serve success rate of 51% in the match, while Coric managed 63% in that respect. As a result, the Croat found it easy to break him twice in the first set and comfortably won it to draw first blood. Coric won 81% of the points on his first serve, while Hijikata managed only 63%.
The Australian tried to apply some pressure on Coric by rushing the net, and even managed to hit a few volley winners. However, Hijikata struggled to contend with the World No. 29 from the baseline and finished second best in most of the rallies.
#2 Borna Coric played some passes against an onrushing Hijikata
Hijikata started the second set in great fashion and broke Coric before racing to a 5-2 lead. The Australian’s attacking approach paid dividends, as the Croat struggled to deal with it for a brief period of time.
However, he bounced back in style by breaking Hijikata in the ninth game of the set. The set then went into a tie-break, with Coric dominating it comfortably and winning it 7-2 in the end.
Hijikata’s tactic of venturing forward and trying to hit winners from the forecourt backfired at times in the match. On a few occasions, the Australian came up with half-volleys that Coric managed to chase down and then hit winners past the stranded Australian.
Coric even hit a backhand pass on match poin to put the final nail on the coffin. The Croat’s groundstrokes were too powerful for Hijikata throughout the contest, as the latter was broken thrice on the night.
