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.

It appeared that fifth-seeded Jared Donaldson was ready to play spoiler on the final day of round-robin play at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals.

But Russian Daniil Medvedev, after overcoming a strong start by the American and his dominating forehand, kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals, defeating Donaldson 3-4(3), 4-2, 4-3(1), 4-0.

“It was a very tough match. Jared had nothing to lose at all, played amazing the first couple of sets. I managed to halt this, it was very tough,” Medvedev said. “I’m happy with my win and I hope to be through to the semis.”

The Russian will now have to watch the evening match between fellow group members Borna Coric (2-0) and Karen Khachanov (1-1). Depending on the result and scoreline of that battle, Medvedev could advance to Friday’s semi-finals. His easiest path there would be for Coric to defeat Khachanov, regardless of the score.

If Khachanov wins, but needs five sets to do so, Medvedev will sneak in as the second semi-finalist from Group B. Since Medvedev took more than three sets to beat Donaldson, Coric has officially qualified for the semi-finals.

“It’s going to be tough. I’m going to watch the match and unfortunately today I think I will support Borna,” Medvedev joked, as he is good friends with Khachanov. “I’m a very calm person in life but when it’s something about winning or sports, I’m crazy… I’m sure I’m going to get crazy tonight in front of the TV.”

For a while, it looked like he might be out of luck, as Donaldson was impressive in the early going. The American dictated play consistently throughout the first set with his forehand, and seemed to be playing more freely compared to his first two matches this week. He saved the sole break point he faced in the first set before cruising in the ensuing tie-break.

However, Medvedev steadied the ship with a break in the third game of the second set. From there, he began to force more errors from Donaldson and was able to avoid being completely on the back foot.

The Russian had a blip in the third set, as Donaldson played a strong game to even affairs after falling behind an early break. But Medvedev stormed to a 5/0 lead in the tie-break and never looked back, putting himself in a position to possibly advance to the last four.

It appeared that fifth-seeded Jared Donaldson was ready to play spoiler on the final day of round-robin play at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals.

But Russian Daniil Medvedev, after overcoming a strong start by the American and his dominating forehand, kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals, defeating Donaldson 3-4(3), 4-2, 4-3(1), 4-0.

“It was a very tough match. Jared had nothing to lose at all, played amazing the first couple of sets. I managed to halt this, it was very tough,” Medvedev said. “I’m happy with my win and I hope to be through to the semis.”

The Russian will now have to watch the evening match between fellow group members Borna Coric (2-0) and Karen Khachanov (1-1). Depending on the result and scoreline of that battle, Medvedev could advance to Friday’s semi-finals. His easiest path there would be for Coric to defeat Khachanov, regardless of the score.

If Khachanov wins, but needs five sets to do so, Medvedev will sneak in as the second semi-finalist from Group B. Since Medvedev took more than three sets to beat Donaldson, Coric has officially qualified for the semi-finals.

“It’s going to be tough. I’m going to watch the match and unfortunately today I think I will support Borna,” Medvedev joked, as he is good friends with Khachanov. “I’m a very calm person in life but when it’s something about winning or sports, I’m crazy… I’m sure I’m going to get crazy tonight in front of the TV.”

For a while, it looked like he might be out of luck, as Donaldson was impressive in the early going. The American dictated play consistently throughout the first set with his forehand, and seemed to be playing more freely compared to his first two matches this week. He saved the sole break point he faced in the first set before cruising in the ensuing tie-break.

However, Medvedev steadied the ship with a break in the third game of the second set. From there, he began to force more errors from Donaldson and was able to avoid being completely on the back foot.

The Russian had a blip in the third set, as Donaldson played a strong game to even affairs after falling behind an early break. But Medvedev stormed to a 5/0 lead in the tie-break and never looked back, putting himself in a position to possibly advance to the last four.

Hyeon Chung was one of the last players to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. But heading into the semi-final stage, the South Korean will be one of the clear favourites to win the inaugural tournament this weekend.

The sixth seed finished off a perfect 3-0 round-robin stage on Thursday, battling past Italian wild card Gianluigi Quinzi 1-4, 4-1, 4-2, 3-4(6), 4-3(3) to carry three days’ worth of momentum into the final stretch, when Chung will try to win his first ATP World Tour title.

“I’m just really looking forward to tomorrow,” Chung said.

The 21-year-old reached the semi-finals at the BMW Open by FWU in Munich earlier this year (l. to Pella). Chung, the Group A champion, is off to the best start of any of his #NextGenATP peers. Croatia’s Borna Coric, the only other undefeated finalist, will put his 2-0 round-robin record on the line Thursday evening when he faces second seed Karen Khachanov of Russia.

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Quinzi, though, didn’t make it easy for Chung. The Italian had won both of their prior junior meetings, on clay in Milan in 2012 and in the 2013 Wimbledon boys’ singles final. And Quinzi started full of confidence as the South Korean struggled to get going. Chung double faulted twice in his first service game and was broken to 30.

But the sixth seed loosened up after the first set and was overpowering the wild card. It looked as if Chung he would finish it in four.

Quinzi, however, wasn’t yet done in Milan. With the home crowd behind him, he fought back, saving a match point at 2-3, 40/40 in the fourth set to force a decider. The Italian saved another match point at 2-3, 40/40 in the fifth set before Chung advanced.

“It was a great hounor to play Gianluigi again,” Chung said.

Quinzi, who received a wild card for winning the Italian 21-and-under qualifying tournament last weekend, finishes 0-3 in Milan. But the World No. 305, having played against the best 21-and-under players in the world, will know what needs to be done if he wants to reach the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings and check off his other goals in the coming years.