Coric To Face Raonic In St. Petersburg Semi-finals
After a slow start, Borna Coric raised his game to beat Reilly Opelka 7-6(3), 6-3 and return to the St. Petersburg Open semi-finals on Friday.
Last year’s runner-up trailed 2-5 in the first set and saved three set points at 3-5 by moving up the court with aggression, before turning the tables on his opponent. Coric converted both break points he created and withstood 16 aces to reach his second semi-final this season.
“In the first set, I didn’t start very good,” said Coric in an on-court interview. “I was very nervous coming into the match. I didn’t know what to expect… I was not playing good and then I obviously found my rhythm and started to play much better. I started to read his serve a little bit as well and on my serve, I was very solid.”
Coric will aim to improve his 6-2 record at the ATP 500 when he faces 2015 champion Milos Raonic for a place in the final. The Croatian lost his only previous match against the Canadian at the 2017 Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.
“Against Milos, one of the best servers on the Tour, it is not going to be an easy match,” said Coric.
After a dominant first set, the Western & Southern Open runner-up served 15 aces and won 23 of 25 first-serve points in a competitive second set to defeat home favourite Karen Khachanov 6-1, 7-6(1) in 86 minutes. Through his opening three matches, Raonic has held all 29 of his service games and saved all 10 break points he has faced.
“It was a great match for me,” said Raonic in an on-court interview. “From the beginning, I knew it was going to be tough. I knew I was going to have to bring my best tennis and I did from the start of the match. I think that really helped me a lot and I am just happy with my level overall.”