CHENNAI, 23rd DECEMBER 2015: Croatian teen Borna Coric is looking forward to a dream match at the Aircel Chennai Open 2016, facing off against defending champion, world no. 4 Stan Wawrinka.
The 19-year old will be participating at South Asia’s premier and India’s only ATP tournament for the second year in a row, and is looking forward to playing in the 20th edition of the prestigious tournament in Chennai.
“It was my first time in Chennai last year and I enjoyed it a lot. The tournament is very well organized, the crowd was amazing, and I met all my Indian fans. I am glad to be back,” Coric said.
On his Chennai preparation and aims for the upcoming tournament, the world No. 44 added, “I had a tough second round against Stan Wawrinka in 2015, losing to him in straight sets. I would prefer to face him in the finals this year!”
At the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships event in February this year, Coric pulled off a surprise victory beating World No. 2 Andy Murray in straight sets in the quarter-finals, before eventually losing to Roger Federer in the semi-finals.
Starting the year ranked 95, the Croat reached a career high ranking of 33 in July this year, before closing out the year ranked 44th.
The 19-year old said, “I like to play against top players, they push me to play at my best level. I enjoyed my match against Rafael Nadal at the US Open. Even if I lost, I loved the atmosphere; it was a great feeling to play at night in the Arthur Ashe stadium in front of a passionate crowd. I learnt a lot from this match against Rafa, it made me grow up.”
In 2014, at 18-years-old, Coric finished the season as the youngest player, aged 18 years, and one of only two teenagers in the Top 100 Emirates ATP Rankings after rising 276 places during that year; the other was Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, then 19.
Coric was awarded the ATP Star of Tomorrow presented by Emirates in November 2014, given to the youngest player in the year-end Top 100.
Having reached a career high of 33 this year, says Coric, “I want to improve my game, my tennis. I work and practice hard every day. My goal for 2016 is to stay healthy and in good shape. I want to win matches and live more amazing moments on the courts. In the next two years, I would like to win the Aircel Chennai Open title!”
The 2013 US Open Junior title winner began playing tennis aged five, after watching his father play, and counts Croat ace Goran Ivanisevic and former World No. 1 Rafael Nadal as his idols growing up.
His favourite surface is the outdoor hardcourt, and he plays the right-handed two-handed backhand. If he hadn’t been a tennis player, he says he would have been a professional boxer. It’s a sport that he loves and often plays to beat the pressure of tennis, with Mike Tyson his favourite sporting personality.
Along with Borna Coric, the 2016 Aircel Chennai Open will witness an exceptional line-up of top talent at the US$480,000 tournament.
Cutting off at 93, the impressive player field for the region's most exciting and hard-fought tennis tournament will see World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka vying for a hat-trick of titles.
Chennai-debutant, World No. 12 Kevin Anderson, world no. 19, ATP's Comeback Player of the Year 2015 Benoit Paire, World No. 25 Roberto Bautista-Agut, along with Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Gilles Muller, Vasek Pospisil and Aljaz Bedene representing nine players from amongst the top 50 in the world.
The Indian challenge will be led by Yuki Bhambri, who broke into the top 100 for the first time this year.
