For the first time in his career, Borna Ćorić has managed to advance past the third round of Indian Wells.
The Croatian Davis Cup representative Borna Ćorić will play in the round of 16 at Indian Wells, entering this stage of the Masters 1000 series season for the first time in his career thanks to another impressive performance – winning 6:1, 6:3 against the number 16 player in the world, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, reports Gol.hr on March 13, 2018. Ćorić defeated the Spaniard in just 82 minutes of play.
Using a similar form to defeat Donald Young and Alberto Ramos-Vinolas in the first two rounds, Borna Ćorić was able to overcome the 13th seed of the tournament, Roberto Bautista Agut. The first four games in the match saw Ćorić reach two breaks and win two games on his service and saved three opportunities from Agut to win the serve back. In just 31 minutes, the 21-year-old from Zagreb won the first game of the match.
Things didn’t look much different at the beginning of the second set. With a break, Ćorić took the 3:0 lead. However, in the fifth game, the 29-year-old Spaniard made use of several mistakes made by Ćorić, returning with his first break in the match. In the next game, Borna already had his fifth break in the match for a 4:2 lead.
The Spaniard remained persistent and awaited another game where Ćorić would make an error, and with his second break, he hoped for a possible turnaround. But Bautista Agut hardly found a way to find the points he needed. Ćorić made his sixth break in the match in the eighth game of the second set. He didn’t need more than that.
In the next game, Ćorić scored another match point, and after 82 minutes overcame Agut with a 6:1, 6:3 victory, returning the defeat to the Spaniard after losing to him just two weeks ago in the quarterfinals of the Dubai tournament. For the first time in his career, Ćorić is in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 series in Indian Wells.
Borna Ćorić will play against American Taylor Fritz on March 14th. Borna has only played Fritz once at Roland Garros in 2016 where he won.
On Tuesday, the second-seeded player in the tournament and the number 3 player in the world, Marin Čilić, will fight for a place in the round of 16 against German Philipp Kohlschreiber. The two have played ten matches against one another, with Čilić losing six times and winning four.
Translated from Gol.hr
