Borna Coric feels he is not playing his best tennis, and yet the Croat is still winning. For those with their eyes on the World No. 13, that’s a scary thought.

“In Dubai I was playing in the semi-finals so I was happy with that,” Coric told ATPTour.com. “But I was getting through the matches very, very tough. I won all three matches 7-6 in the third and then I lost [at the BNP Paribas Open] in Indian Wells to Karlovic, which obviously you never know what’s going to happen. Now here, I’ve won the past two matches, so it hasn’t been that bad. I just thought my level of tennis was not there, not what I expected. But that’s normal, it happens and it’s important that I keep competing.”

Perhaps, it’s that attitude that has helped make the Croatian’s past year arguably his best yet. Entering 2018, Coric had made just two ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finals, and he had not advanced past the last eight. But he made three quarter-finals at the elite level last year, including a trip to the Shanghai final and the Indian Wells semi-finals.

“That’s part of the journey. I was stuck between 40 and 50 [or so in the ATP Rankings] for two to three years. I needed to change something to come to the Top 15 and hopefully one day to the Top 10,” Coric said. “There’s a journey. You’re going to have ups and downs and it’s just important that when you’re kind of down, just continue working, focus on the right things, which I think I do. It’s just a matter of time, and the tennis is going to come.”

Coric’s talent has long been clear. He defeated both Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in 2014 at just 17. But last season was his breakthrough, including a triumph at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, where he beat Alexander Zverev in the first round and Roger Federer in the final. Kristjan Schneider, Coric’s coach, chalks it up to altering his tactics on the court.

“First of all I think he is much more aggressive and that gives him a chance to make more pressure, especially on the top players because if you play too defensive, you really don’t have a chance against top players,” Schneider told ATP Tennis Radio last October. “He’s working on many things and he’s really a good guy in terms of training because he’s the one to push us to work on the things, and he wants to be better.”

Listen To ATP Tennis Radio’s Interview With Schneider:

Coric did have a slight hiccup after his 2018 campaign. With a short off-season of two weeks to work with, Coric got sick, meaning he got less than a full week of training in ahead of 2019.

“Last year I was really playing great and I was moving up through the year,” Coric said. “It was a really, really long year for me. [My short off-season] was one of the reasons I am not playing great, so hopefully on clay I can play better tennis.”

But Coric is not done on the hard courts yet, battling through two three-setters to reach the fourth round at the Miami Open presented by Itau. And judging by his level against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the third round, the 22-year-old feels that he is beginning to turn a corner.

“I think it was a very good match from my side,” said Coric. “I was playing very well — actually, for the first time in the past two, three tournaments since Australia — and I was really happy. That was just a little frustrating, because I lost the first set and I thought I was playing good. So I needed to get back my momentum in the second set, which I did. And then in the third, obviously, I played those important points very brave.”

Coric has an opportunity to reach another ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final when he faces Acapulco champion Nick Kyrgios on Tuesday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. While the Aussie leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry, just one of those matches has come since 2016.

“[He’s an] unbelievable competitor, one of the best players in the world at the moment,” Kyrgios said of Coric. “Knows how to win matches, is an unbelievable athlete. I’ve played him a lot, so I know he’s not going to give me a single point for free. He moves incredibly well and has an unbelievable backhand.”

Tuesday features a mouth-watering roster of matches at the Miami Open presented by Itau, with all fourth-round clashes taking place at Hard Rock Stadium.

Top seed Novak Djokovic faces a stern test against No. 22 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain. Although the Serbian leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 7-2, Bautista Agut won their most recent clash this January at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and has prevailed in their past two hard-court matches. The 30-year-old has been in fine form this season, taking the title in Doha (d. Berdych) and reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open (l. To Tsitsipas).

Djokovic has been made to work in his first two matches this fortnight. The six-time Miami champion was pushed to a first-set tie-break against Bernard Tomic and dropped a set against Federico Delbonis. But the World No. 1 is at his best in the later stages of tournaments and will be eager to avenge his most recent loss to Bautista Agut.

Who will win the latest @FedEx #ATP Head2Head meeting between these players?#MiamiOpen

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) March 26, 2019

Fourth seed Roger Federer headlines the night session against No. 13 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia. The Swiss improved his form considerably in his third-round win on Monday, firing 35 winners to defeat Filip Krajinovic. Federer leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Medvedev 2-0, with both wins coming last October at the Rolex Shanghai Masters and Swiss Indoors Basel.

Medvedev stretched Federer to three sets in Shanghai and has remained solid in his results. The Russian prevailed last month at the Sofia Open (d. Fucsovics) and started the season with a runner-up finish at the Brisbane International (l. Nishikori). But with only one win over a Top 10 player (Wawrinka, 2017 Wimbledon), a high-profile victory would bring the World No. 15 in the ATP Rankings to a new level in his career.

Other marquee matches on Monday include seventh seed and defending champion John Isner of the United States facing off against 19th seed Kyle Edmund of Great Britain, sixth seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa taking on Jordan Thompson of Australia, and eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece battling No. 20 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada in an all-#NextGenATP clash.

ORDER OF PLAY – TUESDAY, 26 MARCH 2019

STADIUM start 12:00 noon
[19] Kyle Edmund (GBR) vs [7] John Isner (USA)
Not Before 2:00 pm
WTA match
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [22] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)
Not Before 7:30pm
WTA match
Not Before 9:00 pm
[13] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs [4] Roger Federer (SUI)

GRANDSTAND start 12:00 noon
[Q] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs [17] Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)
[11] Borna Coric (CRO) vs [27] Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
Not Before 3:00 pm
[6] Kevin Anderson (RSA) vs Jordan Thompson (AUS)
[18] David Goffin (BEL) vs [28] Frances Tiafoe (USA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
[8] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs [20] Denis Shapovalov (CAN)

Third seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan pulled away to make the quarter-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itau on Monday.

The Bryans, five-time Miami champions, beat Nicolas Jarry/Franko Skugor 6-1, 6-7(6), 10-3 and will face Rohan Bopanna/Denis Shapovalov for a place in the semi-finals.

Two other seeded teams also moved into the quarter-finals. Fifth seeds Oliver Marach/Mate Pavic routed Radu Albot/Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 6-1, and top seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo beat Guido Pella/Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-3.

Ivan Dodig/Edouard Roger-Vasselin knocked out Matwe Middelkoop/Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-3.

Two years ago, Russian Andrey Rublev got the better of Denis Shapovalov as the two teenagers competed at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.

But on Monday, the 19-year-old Canadian returned the favour. Shapovalov beat Rublev 6-3, 7-6(5) in a battle of hard-hitting baseliners to make back-to-back fourth-round appearances at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The #NextGenATP Canadian converted only two of his 12 break points against Rublev, but Shapovalov was the steadier of the two during what, at times, seemed more like a boxing match as the two slugged away from the back of the court.

Rublev threw every part of him into his forehands and rarely approached the net, sometimes even backing up after reaching the service line.

Shapovalov, however, mixed in variety and attacked the net against the Russian, who qualified and was trying to reach his first fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 event.

Shapovalov will next meet the winner between Greece’s #NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 10 in the ATP Rankings, and Argentine Leonardo Mayer.