Croatia’s Borna Coric stuns the World No.4 Dominic Thiem 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 in 2 hours and 45 minutes to win a tough Group E tie against Austria at the ATP Cup 2020 in Sydney.
Substandard set one from Dominic Thiem
Coric put Dominic Thiem on the backfoot right from the first point of the match. The Croatian was up with three breakpoint opportunities in the first game of the set at 0-40. Borna Coric got off on the right foot as he secured the break after missing the first chance.
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The Austrian earned two chances to break back in the next game but could not capitalize onto it as Coric held a dicey service game. Thiem got the re-break in the fourth game to level back the set at 2-2.
However, Coric shift gears at the right moment to break Thiem at 4-3. Not playing up to the mark, Theim saved a set point on his serve at 3-5 and held a crucial serve game. The 26-year-old fought hard to break back and stay in the set at 5-5. The two players then forced the set to the tiebreaker.
Coric took command in the tiebreaker as he cruised to 5-1 in no time. Giving some hopes to the Austrian box, Thiem won the next three points only to lose the tiebreaker at 7-4.
Borna Coric takes the breaker 7-4 against Dominic Thiem. in a 69 minute set. Coric doing all the things right, the question is whether Thiem can find a way to make more of a fight out of those rallies pressurising his backhand corner. Been a tough watch so far.
— Jake Davies (@jakedavi5) January 4, 2020
We’re in for another long night here in Syd.
Dominic Thiem has just dropped the first set 6-7 to Borna Coric.
If the Croatian can hang on, they’ll be in pole position in Group E.#ATPCup
— Sam Phillips (@samphillips06) January 4, 2020
Borna Coric just about edges out the first set 7-6(4) on Thiem. Thiem has mostly been poor, but this would be a big win for Coric given how his 2019 ended.
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) January 4, 2020
Thiem’s comeback in the second set
Dominic Thiem was all over Coric in the second set. The World No.4 stepped up to break Coric in the first game of the set. He earned the second break to get a comfortable 5-2 lead before serving out the set 6-2 in just 34 minutes. Thiem did not face a single breakpoint in the set as he levelled back the match at 1-1.
Look who's on the way back 👀
🇦🇹 @ThiemDomi takes the second set against Coric 6-2 & we're going three in #Sydney!#AUTCRO | #ATPCup pic.twitter.com/3UFArraex2
— ATPCup (@ATPCup) January 4, 2020
Borna Coric steps up to win the match in set three
The 23-year-old dominated the third set as he earned three breakpoints in the second game. However, Thiem held his head and saved all the three breakpoints and held his serve. Coric then went onto break his opponent in the fourth game to get a 3-1 lead.
#AUTCRO (🎥@TennisTV ) pic.twitter.com/4rAMxJFQEl
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) January 4, 2020
The World No.4 earned 3 chances to get a re-break at 2-4 but squander the opportunities. Thiem then got the break at 5-3 only to get broken in the next game to lose the set 6-3.
🇭🇷 2-0 🇦🇹
After Marin Cilic beat Denis Novak, @borna_coric wraps up a huge 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 win over Dominic Thiem to snap a 6-match losing streak & seal the tie.#ATPCup pic.twitter.com/D8Iw7js7v3
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) January 4, 2020
Borna Coric gets an enormous 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3 win over Dominic Thiem to give Croatia a 2-0 win over Austria. He saved 6 break points in the final 2 games.
Coric's first win after ending 2019 with 6 straight losses and his first top 10 win since beating Federer in Oct 2018.
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) January 4, 2020
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Earlier, Marin Cilic came back from a set down to defeat Austria’s Dennis Novak 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 to give a 1-0 lead to Croatia.
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