Comeback Kid Coric Does It Again In St. Petersburg

Borna Coric hung tough to make his first final in nearly 12 months on Saturday at the St. Petersburg Open. The 22-year-old ran away with the semi-final against Portugal’s Joao Sousa 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1.

Coric last played for an ATP title at the 2018 Rolex Shanghai Masters (l. to Djokovic). But, for the third consecutive match in Russia, the World No. 15 rallied from a set down to advance. His last ATP Tour title came in June 2018 at the NOVENTI OPEN in Halle (d. Federer).

“I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t like [losing the first set], either. I would love to be in two sets. Maybe one day, hopefully it’s going to come one day,” Coric said.

Sousa was down 0/40 while serving for the opening set at 5-3, but erased all three break points and was brave when he had a set point, charging forward behind a forehand to take the opener.

Coric, however, was aggressive in the tie-break to even the match, and Sousa never recovered, dropping his serve three times in the deciding set.

“I think I played three very good matches, especially today,” Coric said. “It’s great. I’m looking forward to the final.”

Coric will next face Russian Daniil Medvedev, who beat qualifier Egor Gerasimov of Belarus 7-5, 7-5. The top-seeded Medvedev is trying to become the first Russian to win the St. Petersburg title since Mikhail Youzhny in 2004. Coric leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-1 and has won their past three matchups. The two also met at the 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, a meeting Coric won in four sets.