Aircel Chennai Open 2016: Borna Coric aims for a final showdown with Wawrinka

Borna-CoricChennai , December 23 : Croatian teenage sensation, Borna Coric will be looking forward to a dream final at Aircel Chennai Open 2016.  The 19-year old will be participating at South Asia’s premier and India’s only ATP tournament for the consecutive second year, 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 being asked about his preparation of the Chennai open and aims for the upcoming tournament, the world No. 44 answered , “I had a tough second round against Stan Wawrinka in 2015, losing to him in straight sets. I would prefer to face him in finals this year!”

As a lucky loser at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships event in February this year, Coric pulled off a surprise victory beating Andy Murray in straight sets in the quarter-finals, before losing to Roger Federer in the semi-finals eventually. Starting the year ranked 95, the Croat reached a career high ranking of 33 in July this year, before closing out the year ranked at an impressive world no. 44.

Says the 19-year old, “I like to play against top players, they push me to play at my best level. I enjoyed my match vs. Rafa 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 vs Rafa, it made me grow up!”

Coric finished the 2014  season as the youngest player, aged 18 years, and one of only two teenagers (Kyrgios) in the Top 100 Emirates ATP Rankings after rising 276 places during that year. 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, Coric started playing tennis at the age of five, following his fathers  footsteps . His idols are Goran Ivanisevic and Rafael Nadal.. 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 would have been a boxer, a sport that he loves and often plays to beat the pressure of tennis, Mike Tyson being his favourite sporting personality.

Along with Borna Coric, Chennai will witness an exceptional line-up of top talent at the US$480,000 prize money 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  claiming  for a hat-trick of titles. Current world no. 12 and big serving, Kevin Anderson, will be making his debut in Chennai.

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 will be also participating in the Tournament.. The Indian challenge will be led by Yuki Bhambri, who closed the year with a ranking of 91.

Yuki, currently the country’s leading singles player, came into the top-100 earlier this year. He rose to a career-high of 88 earlier this month, before closing the year at an impressive 91.