Borna Coric put Stefanos Tsitsipas in the backhand cage and threw away the key.

Coric defeated Tsitsipas 7-6(0), 6-2 in the Western & Southern Open final on Sunday in Cincinnati by dominating baseline exchanges through the Ad court. The engine room of Coric’s game has always been a rock-solid backhand, and he led with his strong suit to win his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title.

Coric was always looking to go backhand-to-backhand with Tsitsipas, where the Croatian proved to be more consistent and more powerful.

Coric Backhand Groundstrokes

• 86 backhands
• 4 errors
• 10 winners

Tsitsipas Backhand Groundstrokes

• 94 backhands
• 15 errors
• 0 winners

Tsitsipas raced to a 4-1 lead after 16 minutes of play on the back of making his first 16 backhands of the match. The Greek then went through a period missing four out of five backhands, and the early break and the momentum quickly dried up. Coric’s backhand went into lockdown mode for the rest of the set, making his last 25 backhands of the first set, which included four winners.

Overall for the match, Coric’s backhand groundstroke racked up 10 winners while yielding just four errors. Tsitsipas was unable to hit a single backhand groundstroke winner, committing 15 errors. Coric’s average backhand speed was 70 mph, which was significantly faster than Tsitsipas’ 60 mph. In fact, Coric’s average backhand speed was just one mile per hour slower than Tsitsipas’ average forehand speed (71 mph), and almost as fast as his own forehand (72 mph average).

The Croatian felt at home standing in the Ad court crushing backhands and using his run-around forehand to hit high and heavy back cross court. Coric had the perfect game plan of nullifying and frustrating Tsitsipas’ powerful game by keeping the ball flowing back and forth through the Ad court until the right ball presented itself to attack somewhere else.

Coric hit 43 run-around forehands for the match, which was almost identical to Tsitsipas’ 44. That stat alone is a win for Coric as Tsitsipas possesses a more penetrating forehand that can do more damage as a run-around shot. Both players hit five winners and committed five errors from run-around forehands.

The champion’s minor weak spot in the match was hitting regular forehands standing in the Deuce court. He hit 69 forehands for the match standing there, hitting three winners while contributing 14 errors. Deuce-court exchanges favoured Tsitsipas overall, but with Coric hitting 65 per cent (129/198) of all groundstrokes standing in the Ad court, Tsitsipas could not run his preferred strategy often enough.

Coric was simply more dominant from the back of the court. He won 56 per cent (46/82) of his baseline points, while Tsitsipas was way off that mark, winning just 41 per cent (29/71) from the baseline.

The 25-year-old also enjoyed serving success by going after Tsitsipas’ backhand return.

Tsitsipas Returns

• Forehand returns = 24, including five errors
• Backhand returns = 37, including 11 errors

Tsitsipas hit 61 per cent (37/61) of returns as a backhand return, yielding 11 return errors from that side.

Impressively, Coric managed to execute his favorite pattern of play to take his biggest title. Controlling the Ad court with his solid backhand and heavy run-around forehand was always going to be the preferred way to wrestle control of points against Tsitsipas.

It must feel good to win on the biggest ATP stage with your “go-to” pattern of play.

Stefanos Tsitsipas fell short of lifting the Western & Southern Open trophy against Borna Coric on Sunday, but it was still a productive week of work for the Greek star. The 24-year-old is up to second place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Tsitsipas, who earned 600 points by reaching the Cincinnati final, is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year. In 2019, he claimed the title at the year-end championships.

The Greek (4,620 points) trails first-placed Rafael Nadal (5,630) by 1,010 points. The Spaniard, who has qualified for the season finale on 16 previous occasions, will arrive at the US Open in top spot in the Live Race.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (as of 22 August)

Another Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz, is in third place (4,460), 160 points behind Tsitsipas. Last year’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champion is trying to make the same leap Tsitsipas did from 2018 to 2019 — winning in Milan one year and triumphing at the Nitto ATP Finals the next.

Briton Cameron Norrie, who competed in Turin last year as an alternate, is trying to return to the season finale. The lefty made good progress towards that goal in Cincinnati, where he advanced to the semi-finals. Norrie climbed three spots into 11th place (2,140), 555 points behind eighth-placed Andrey Rublev (2,695), who currently occupies the final qualifying spot.

Felix Auger-Aliassime continued the best season of his career by reaching his fourth straight Masters 1000 quarter-final. Only Coric was able to halt the Canadian’s run in the last eight.

Auger-Aliassime jumped one spot into sixth place in the Live Race (2,815), as he tries to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The 22-year-old owns a 115-point lead over seventh-placed Alexander Zverev (2,700) and a 120-point advantage over eighth-placed Rublev.

Coric soared 94 places into 22nd in the Live Race with 1,360 points. At the start of the week, he owned 360 points for the season. Now the Croatian has 1,360.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is sometimes nicknamed the ‘Greek Philosopher’ as he often uses Twitter to post thoughtful and analytical content, but following Sunday’s loss to Borna Coric in the Cincinnati final, the World No. 5 admitted that he was lacking answers to his straight-sets defeat.

“I’m still looking for the answer myself. I don’t have a clear answer,” Tsitsipas said of the loss. “He was obviously the opposite of what I was, very much involved. Sometimes it makes you not be that much present in the moment when you’re too relaxed.

“I think he was serving well. He was making me move a lot. I could have used my chances in the first set. I don’t know why I didn’t. I rushed a little bit.”

Despite the loss, Tsitsipas holds a Tour-leading 46 wins in 2022 and his run to the final at the Western & Southern Open lifts him to second in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. His runner-up finish Sunday in Ohio follows two semi-final exits at the event in the previous two years.

Boasting a Tour-leading 19 ATP Masters 1000 wins in 2022, Tsitsipas ousted World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the Cincinnati semi-finals to advance to his fifth final of the season. He also reached the final in Rotterdam and Rome and claimed the trophy in Monte Carlo and Mallorca.

The 24-year-old now sets his sights on his first run to the second week at the US Open, where he is one of several players who will have a chance to become World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Tsitsipas has endured heartbreaking losses in New York the past two seasons. Last year, he lost a fifth-set tie-break to Carlos Alcaraz in the third round. In 2020, the Greek held six match points against Coric in the third round, but failed to convert.

The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion offered this praise of Coric in his post-match press conference. “The less he misses, the more he makes your life difficult. He’s like a Daniil Medvedev almost but hitting the ball a bit harder, adding a bit more topspin to the ball, opening the court. Basically his ball has a little bit more weight to it when it comes off your strings.”

When Borna Coric arrived at the Western & Southern Open, the Croatian had every reason to be pessimistic. In May 2021, he underwent right shoulder surgery, which kept him out longer than expected. This week he was No. 152 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and just 4-8 in tour-level matches on the year. The former World No. 12 had a long way to go before reaching the peak that once saw him earn nine wins against Top 5 opponents.

Everything about Coric’s job is harder now, too. The Croatian has to spend anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes working on his shoulder each day to maintain it.

“If I want to do my job, which is to play tennis, I need to do this, otherwise I cannot play tennis. I don’t think it’s a huge sacrifice to have an extra 30 minutes of work to get to play tennis,” Coric told ATPTour.com earlier in the week. “You get to do what you love, it’s not a huge deal. If I usually come one hour before practice, now I need to come one and a half hours. That’s it. It’s not a big deal.”

When Coric said that Tuesday following his first-round win in Cincinnati against Lorenzo Musetti, he was preparing to face 36-time ATP Masters 1000 champion Rafael Nadal. Advancing seemed unlikely, but it was clear his mind was in the right place.

Little did the Croatian know that five days later, he would lift his first Masters 1000 trophy. Coric completed a dream run in Ohio on Sunday when he defeated fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(0), 6-2 for the biggest title of his career.

“I have no words, to be honest. It’s just unbelievable feeling. Like I said many times, I [am] just going to enjoy this,” Coric said. “I thought I could play well. I was training hard, and I knew I could play good tennis, but that I could play this level tennis, I was just not aware. I’m just super happy.”

Just one week ago, Coric lost his first-round match against Marin Cilic in Montreal in lopsided fashion, 3-6, 2-6. You would not have been able to tell based on his attitude in Cincinnati.

Coric was in good spirits and although he entered his second-round clash as the heavy underdog against Nadal, he was excited for the opportunity. The 25-year-old said he would play the match “without any pressure”.

That mindset worked through the week. After losing one set against Nadal, Coric stormed through the field without dropping another. He defeated Musetti, Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Cameron Norrie and Tsitsipas, all of whom are inside the Top 35 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“I believe always in myself. But again, [it was unlikely] to win the tournament when last week I was really playing poorly,” Coric said. “I didn’t believe I’m going to win the tournament.”

When Coric followed his stunning win against Nadal by ousting Bautista Agut, it was the first time he had won three consecutive tour-level matches since his shoulder surgery. But the Croatian did not get ahead of himself.

“I knew I needed to stay calm. I needed to do my recovery and to stay fresh, basically, because that’s most important. And I think that’s what I did,” Coric said. “But I think I kind of learned that the hard way, because I was doing those mistakes when I was younger where I would beat some good players, and then I would just go in the holiday mode.”

Coric took it one day at a time, one match at a time. His struggles helped him appreciate what he has. It is safe to say the Croatian will cherish this moment for years to come.

“I was just believing that I can win the next match,” Coric said. “That’s what I did for [six] days in a row.”

Did You Know?
Coric will climb 123 places in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to No. 29.

Borna Coric crowned a remarkable injury comeback Sunday when he captured his first ATP Masters 1000 title, overcoming Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(0), 6-2 in the Western & Southern Open final.

The Croatian, who was competing in his first tour-level final since 2020, defeated Rafael Nadal en route to his second Masters 1000 final. With the pressure on, Coric demonstrated courage against the Greek, rallying from 1-4 in the first set, before he blitzed his way past the fourth seed in the second set to triumph after one hour and 57 minutes in Cincinnati.

Coric missed the majority of last season due to a shoulder injury and entered the Cincinnati draw with a protected ranking, sitting at No. 152 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. However, he is up to No. 29 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his fairytale run, while he has improved to 2-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Tsitsipas.

“It was a very, very tough match. At the beginning I wasn’t playing very well and he was pushing me very hard. But I started to serve better and play better and I was fighting hard,” Coric said in his on-court interview. “Then in the second set I thought I played the best set of the whole year.”

Coric dropped just one set during his run to the championship match in his sixth appearance at the hard-court event, also defeating Lorenzo Musetti, Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Cameron Norrie. The 25-year-old has now clinched three tour-level titles on all three surfaces, having soared to success on clay in Marrakech in 2017 and on grass Halle in 2018.

“Thank you to my parents, who are not here, my sister and my team. It has been very tough for us,” Coric added during the trophy ceremony. “With my physio, if I didn’t have him I wouldn’t be on the court… Then of course to my tennis coach, Mate. We have been working very hard and now we are here.”

Tsitsipas flew out of the blocks in an enthralling first set as he opened his shoulders to race into a 4-1 lead. Coric showed signs of nerves in the opening exchanges, but started to settle as the set went on. The Croatian began to find his spots on serve, while he hit with greater depth and pace off the ground to claw back to 4-4. With a tie-break left to decide the first set, it was Coric who raced into top gear, capitalising on untimely errors from Tsitsipas to lead.

After hitting 18 winners in the opener, the 25-year-old continued to look comfortable at the start of the second set. Coric hit his water-tight groundstrokes with consistency on return and gained the decisive break in the sixth game of the set against a tiring Tsitsipas. The Croatian, who committed just 14 unforced errors, then fended off pressure from Tsitsipas when serving, before he broke again to earn the biggest win of his career.

Coric looked to step inside the baseline and attack Tsitsipas in the second set in a move that worked. As shown in his INSIGHTS: Conversion Score, the Croatian was clinical, holding a conversion rate of 87 per cent, well above the 66 per cent Tour average.

Prior to his shoulder surgery in May 2021, Coric had earned nine victories against Top 5 opponents and climbed to a career-high World No. 12. The Croatian made his comeback in Indian Wells in this March and had lost 8 of his 13 tour-level matches in 2022 before his dream run in Cincinnati.

Tsitsipas was aiming to capture his third Masters 1000 title and 10th tour-level trophy. The Greek, who retained the title in Monte Carlo in April, edged Daniil Medvedev in a hard-fought semi-final win and is up to No. 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

The 24-year-old has also risen to second in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin as he looks to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for a fourth consecutive season. He lifted the trophy at the season finale on debut in 2019.

Did You Know?
Coric is the first player to win a Masters 1000 title and an ATP Challenger Tour title in the same season since Mikael Pernfors in 1993. It’s only happened three times since ATP Masters 1000 debuted as a series in 1990 [also Thomas Muster 1992]. Coric won a Challenger Trophy in Parma, Italy, in June.

The fourth and final Grand Slam of the season will see reigning champion Daniil Medvedev and four-time winner Rafael Nadal lead the field at the US Open.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the tournament in New York:

When is the US Open?

The 2022 US Open will be held from 29 August – 11 September. The hard-court Grand Slam tournament, established in 1881, will take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, United States. The tournament director is Stacey Allaster.

Who is playing at the 2022 Western & Southern Open?

The US Open will feature stars including World No. 1 Medvedev, 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal, two-time ATP Masters 1000 titlist Carlos Alcaraz and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

When is the draw for the US Open?

The US Open draw will be made Thursday, 25 August at a time to be confirmed.

What is the schedule for the US Open?

*Qualifying: Tuesday 23 August-Friday 26 August
*Main Draw: Monday 29 August-Sunday 11 September at 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
*Doubles Final: Saturday 10 September at TBC.
*Singles Final: Sunday 11 September at 4:00 p.m.

View On Official Website

What is the prize money and points for the US Open?

The Total Financial Commitment for the US Open is more than $60,000,000.

SINGLES
Winner: $2,600,000/2,000 points
Finalist: $1,300,000/1,200 points
Semi-finalist: $705,000/720 points
Quarter-finalist: $445,000/360 points
Fourth Round: $278,000/180 points
Third Round: $188,000/90 points
Second Round: $121,000/45 points
First Round: $80,000/10 points

DOUBLES ($ per team)
Winner: $688,000/2,000 points
Finalist: $344,000/1,200 points
Semi-finalist: $172,000/720 points
Quarter-finalist: $97,500/360 points
Third Round: $56,400/180 points
Second Round: $35,800/90 points
First Round: $21,300/0 points

How can I watch US Open?

US Open Broadcast Schedule

How can I follow the US Open?

Social
Hashtag: #USOpen
Facebook: @usopentennis
Twitter: @usopen
Instagram: @usopen

Who won the last edition of US Open in 2021?

Daniil Medvedev won the 2021 US Open title with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Novak Djokovic in the championship match. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury lifted the doubles trophy, defeating Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the final.

Who holds the US Open record for most titles, oldest champion, youngest champion and more?

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras (5)
Most Titles, Doubles: Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Daniel Nestor (5)
Oldest Champion: Ken Rosewall, 35, in 1970
Youngest Champion: Pete Sampras, 19, in 1990
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 1 Jimmy Connors in 1974, 1976, 1978, John McEnroe in 1981, 1984, Ivan Lendl in 1986-87, Pete Sampras in 1996, Roger Federer in 2004-07, Rafael Nadal in 2010, 2017, Novak Djokovic in 2011, 2015
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 20 Andre Agassi in 1994
Last Home Champion: Andy Roddick in 2003
Most Match Wins: Jimmy Connors (98)

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

They may have spent some time apart at the start of the North American hard-court swing, but Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury have not lost their winning edge.

The top seeds clinched their second ATP Masters 1000 title of the season at the Western & Southern Open on Sunday, when they completed a hard-fought 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory against Tim Puetz and Michael Venus in Cincinnati.

“It gives us huge confidence to get the win this week,” said Salisbury, who only returned to action last week in Montreal after missing a month due to a back issue. “First and foremost, it’s a huge tournament, our third Masters 1000 title together and Raj’s home tournament, so it’s really special to win here.

“We had a while off from playing together after Wimbledon and lost first round last week, so it’s great to get the win this week and feeling good going into the US Open.”

The fourth Masters 1000 meeting between the two teams was dominated by serve, with Ram and Salisbury winning 82 per cent (46/56) and Puetz and Venus 85 per cent (39/46) of points behind their first deliveries. It was Ram and Salisbury’s ability to raise their level in both tie-breaks that proved decisive, however, as they wrapped up a one-hour, 38-minute win to seal their third Masters 1000 crown as a team.

“Sometimes it just comes down to good serves at the right time,” said Ram, who saved Puetz and Venus’s only two break points of the match in his opening service game. “I felt like we did that great today, because they came out probably returning better than we did. We were able to stave off those break points, keep fighting and having a good attitude, and I think that’s what got us over the line.”

Ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, respectively, Salisbury and Ram’s previous best performance in Cincinnati was a semi-final run in 2020. For Ram, who hails from nearby Indiana, the victory was particularly poignant.

“It’s really cool, I’ve played [here] every year of my career,” said the American, who has now won 24 tour-level doubles titles. “We don’t get many home games in tennis, so it’s pretty special when you get to be successful at something that you consider a home tournament.”

The victory lifts Ram and Salisbury two spots to third place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, as they seek to qualify for November’s Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year.

#NextGenATP American Ben Shelton made waves at the Western & Southern Open this week, claiming his first Top 5 win against Casper Ruud en route to the third round in Cincinnati.

The 19-year-old has boosted his chances of qualifying for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for the first time following his standout run at the ATP Masters 1000 hard-court event.

Shelton, who made his tour-level debut in Atlanta last month, has risen eight spots in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan to No. 13 and will have the chance to climb further after receiving a wild card for the upcoming US Open.

View Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan Rankings

Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, Jack Draper and Jiri Lehecka are positioned third to sixth, respectively, and will all be aiming for deep runs at the Winston-Salem Open this coming week to further solidify their positions.

Musetti captured his maiden tour-level crown in Hamburg in July, while Lehecka triumphed at an ATP Challenger Tour event on home soil in Czech Republic earlier this month. Lehecka, who is 35-23 on the season across all levels, is aiming to qualify and make his debut at the 21-and-under event, taking place in Italy in November.