Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis is all set to take on Croatia’s Borna Coric in the first round (R32) of the 2024 Atlanta Open. Both of these players have witnessed quite a few ups and downs this year. Kokkinakis has had a good run in the Challengers this year and he has already won a title in 2024. Apart from that, the Aussie tennis star has also made it to three QFs in his previous tournament this year. Can he make a similar long run in Atlanta? Well, for that he first needs to overcome the Croatian hurdle!

Borna Coric started the season ranking 37th in the world, but now he has dropped nearly 50 places ranking 84th in the men’s singles list. He’ll be keen to get back to the Top 50 once again this year. The 27-year-old Croatian tennis player has reached two finals this season but has failed to convert when it mattered the most. Defeating in-form Kokkinakis will not be easy, but Coric surely has the potential to come up with a strong challenge.

Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Borna Coric: Preview

Kokkinakis started his Wimbledon campaign in style by defeating a Top 20-ranked player (Felix Auger-Aliassime) in the first round. However, he faced defeat in the second round at the hands of France’s Lucas Pouille. Thanasi Kokkinakis was in fact forced to retire hurt in that match, due to an injury to his knee. The match ended in 2-6,7-5,5-2 in favor of the Frenchman. However, the interesting fact from that match is that the Aussie fired 16 aces and committed just 5 double faults. He won 85% of his first serve and 39% of his second serve but in the breakpoints, he recorded just 2/8.

How are his overall numbers in this season? Well, Thanasi Kokkinakis has hit 192 aces this season and has committed 52 double faults in total. He has won 81% of his service games and 12% of his return games. Now, let’s have a look at how well has his Croatian opponent performed in this season, though!

Borna Coric will enter this match after his second-round exit from Wimbledon at the hands of America’s Frances Tiafoe. The Croatian was thrashed by 6(5)-7,1-6,3-6 and could only manage to hit 6 aces in the entire match. However, he committed only one double fault against Tiafoe. He won 59% of his first serve and 59% of his second serve but could only manage 1/4 in the breakpoints.

The 27-year-old tennis star is the pride of Croatian tennis as the highest-ranked tennis player. So far this season, Coric has hit 108 aces and committed 39 double faults. Borna Coric has won 80% of his service games and just 18% of his return games. Numbers look more or less the same for both, right? So, let’s have a sneak peek at their H2H stats, and let’s see if we can pick one out of this close contest.

Kokkinakis vs Coric: Head-to-Head

Kokkinakis and Coric have played against each other thrice in their careers so far. However, it was Borna Coric who had the last laugh on all three occasions. Coric may well take a bit of confidence by looking at the stats from their previous meetings.

• They had first met each other in the R32 of the 2022 Japan Open where Coric defeated Kokkinakis by 6-4,7-6(4).
• Then their next meeting was in the SF of the 2022 Davis Cup Finals and even there, Coric took just two sets to beat the Australian.
• However, in their third faceoff at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships, Coric took three sets to outclass the Aussie tennis star. Kokkinakis played really well in that match, hitting 20 aces and committing just 2 double faults in the entire match, but he failed to convert the outcome of the match.

Prediction: Kokkinakis to win this match in three sets

Here’s the twist in the tale! Although Borna Coric has dominated their previous encounters, Thanasi Kokkinakis looks to be in much better form this year. Last year, the Australian had in fact reached the R16 in this tournament. Kokkinakis is ranked 88th in the world while Coric is ranked just four places above him. Even in the win-loss record, it’s pretty much close, so far the Australian has recorded 7-12 this season while it’s 8-13 for the Croatian. Picking one out of this two looks a bit difficult, but we all know there is only one who would be coming out of this match with flying colors.

The contest looks much closer this time. Thanasi Kokkinakis has a huge first serve and can generate some real power from both the wings, especially from the forehands. While Borna Coric is more of a defensive baseliner with a good backhand, his forehand has been a major issue in the recent past. He has struggled a bit hitting forehand groundstrokes from the defensive positions or on the run.

So the Aussie will surely be looking forward to capitalizing on that. On the opposite side, Coric will be trying to engage Kokkinakis in longer rallies. Like he usually does with most of his opponents, dictating the match on his own terms will be his aim, but is it feasible? Looks most unlikely this time!