WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 21, 2022

Borna Coric

Press Conference

B. CORIC/S. Tsitsipas

7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Borna Coric. Big, big congrats to you, Borna. I still remember in Miami you telling me how excited you were to win your first Masters 1000 back on tour, and now you are the champion at Cincinnati, your first Masters 1000 championship. How do you feel now?

BORNA CORIC: I have no words, to be honest. It's just unbelievable feeling. Like I said many times, I just gonna enjoy this. 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, obviously.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. First set, you're down 4-1. At that point, what changed?

BORNA CORIC: I think I just realized that I need to be more aggressive. I think I came into the match with the mindset of he's gonna miss. You know, he's unbelievable player, and he's not gonna miss on my solid balls, you know.

So I just decided, you know, I said to myself, I have nothing to lose. If I continue like this, I'm going to lose anyway, for sure. Because he's also playing very, very good. He was putting the pressure on me. He was taking the ball super early. I was under lots of pressure.

I didn't serve very good at the beginning, as well. 4-1, I just said to myself, All right, I need to go more for the balls. Not necessarily for the winners, but just I need to hit harder, I need to hit deeper so he cannot attack me so easy.

Q. Congratulations for the trophy. Lowest-ranking champion in the Masters 1000 since 1996. It's a big result for you obviously. I was wondering, what kind of sensations were you having while, you know, winning matches over matches over matches, especially, for example, when you were beating Rafa Nadal at the beginning of the tournament?

BORNA CORIC: You know, I just don't think about it too much, especially during the tournament. I've played on the tour for a long time already, and I know that in the tournament I cannot take much days off in my head in terms of, you know, I'm going to enjoy this win now for two days and I'm going to be relaxed and everything is good, I'm happy.

I cannot do it anymore. I can do it now, because for the next seven days I don't have the tournament. But in the middle of the tournament, when I won Rafa, obviously I was super happy. It was great.

But again, I knew I need to play against unbelievable player the next day for less than, I think, 15 hours I was playing. So I knew I need to stay calm. I need to do my recovery and to stay fresh, basically, because that's the most important. And I think that's what I did.

But I think I kind of learned that on the hard way, because I was doing those mistakes when I was younger where I would beat some good players, and then, you know, I would just go in the holiday mode (smiling).

Q. So what's next for you then? Where do you go from here? I know US Open is coming up.

BORNA CORIC: US Open. I will go for dinner tonight. Celebrate a little bit. Nothing big, nothing fancy.

Again, it's been very stressful for my body this whole week. I came into the tournament with many, many sessions, as well, which I don't usually do.

So I already had some low before the tournament. I played five matches now in a row. So I need to rest for couple of days. I need to recover and, you know, just get ready for the US Open, basically.

Q. Just curious, from the stands we could see big, big storm coming to the stadium at the end of the final. Did you realize that on the court?

BORNA CORIC: I actually didn't. I actually didn't, because I was so focused on the match. I saw it just after the match, to be honest. I was not think about that.

Even if I saw it, I wouldn't care much. I have the whole day. I'm not in a rush. I don't need to go anywhere. If the rain stopped us, that's okay. I can stay here and just wait for the end of the match.

Q. Did you surprise yourself this week, or did you come here believing that you were capable of this?

BORNA CORIC: No. No, I mean, I believe always in myself, you know. But again, to win the tournament when, you know, last week I was really playing poorly. Also, I was playing great last week, but still my level was not there.

I didn't believe I'm gonna win the tournament. I was not really focused on, I didn't know -- I think when I beat Musetti, I came to locker room and I asked my coach, Who do I play next?

I never look, you know, too much forward. Obviously sometimes I know, because when I was in the semifinals, obviously I know who I'm gonna play in the final, because it's not many matches. You just hear it.

But in the first couple of rounds, I'm not really focused on the next round. I'm always focused on the round which I'm playing right now.

I was just believing that I can win the next match. That's what I did for five days in a row (smiling).