Coric's Comeback

Borna Coric came back from two sets down to clinch his status as Group B champion on Thursday night and finalize the semi-finals for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

The fourth-seeded Coric knocked out second seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 4-3(3), 4-2, 2-4, 0-4, 4-2 in a match that finished just before midnight in Italy.

Joining Coric from Group B will be Russian Daniil Medvedev, who needed and received help from Coric.

Representing Group A in the last four will be champion Hyeon Chung of South Korea and Russian Andrey Rublev, who beat Canadian Denis Shapovalov in an elimination match earlier Thursday evening.

The Friday semi-finals will be as follows: 7 p.m. Coric v. top seed Rublev, and not before 9 p.m., sixth seed Chung v. seventh seed Medvedev.

“It does feel great,” Coric said after his comeback win. “I just need to get some rest and I need to focus on tomorrow.”

The 21-year-old finished the round-robin stage with a perfect 3-0 record, joining Chung as unbeaten champions. Coric will now look to win his second ATP World Tour title (Marrakech). It will be the first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting between Coric, No. 48 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, and World No. 37 Rublev.

Khachanov had a narrow path to the semi-finals. The #NextGenATP regular season win leader (25) needed to beat Coric in three or four sets. Win in five or lose, and the Russian would be headed home.

But for two sets, it looked as if Khachanov was going to fit into the semi-finals. The 6’6” right-hander won 80 per cent of his service points in the first set (16/20) and in the second, he erased the only break point he faced.

No player had come back from two sets down yet in this inaugural tournament, but Coric has had an answer for everything so far. The fourth seed had beaten Medvedev in four sets and Jared Donaldson in three, and he turned it around just in time against Khachanov.

“I did change my tactic a little bit. I just went for a little bit more. I stepped into the court. I was going for my shots,” Coric said. “I did take my chances and when I won that third set, his level dropped a little bit, and mine raised.”

Coric has now won 24 matches on the year. One more win, and he’ll have an even 25-25 record on the season, and a spot in the title match of the Next Gen ATP Finals.