Rafael Nadal (3rd in the world ranking) fell to Borna Coric (152nd) 7-6 (9), 4-6 and 6-3 at the Cincinnati Masters 1000. In the next round, the Croatian will face the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
For the Croatian, a luxury record: he is one of the four tennis players with at least four duels against Nadal who has a favorable record: now he is 3-2. The others: Novak Djokovic (30-29), Nikolay Davydenko (6-5) and Dominik Hrbaty (3-1) .
The Spaniard’s last match had been in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. That day, he defeated Taylor Fritz by 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 and 7-6 (4). After confirming that he had an abdominal tear, he decided to get out of the semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios. As the discomfort remained and, with the US Open just around the corner, Nadal preferred not to risk it and opted not to play the Masters 1000 de Montreal.
In Coric’s case, it wasn’t just another triumph. If there is something that characterized the seasons of the 25-year-old Croatian, it is injuries. Continuously, each one of his returns was frustrated and the absences in the circuit became more and more frequent. In this 2022, he alternated between Challengers and ATP tournaments. His best result was in the Parma Challenger (Italy)contest in which became champion after defeating the Swedish Elias Ymer 7-6 (4) and 6-0.
In the next round, Coric will have to face Roberto Bautista Agut; the record favors the Spanish with four wins in seven games. However, the Croatian stayed with the last two duels. Both were in 2018: in Halle and in Indian Wells.
