Croatian former world No.12 claims first Grand Slam victory since February 2021
© Clément Mahoudeau/FFTAt last year’s US Open, when the world’s best players were fighting it out for the final Grand Slam title of 2021, Croatia’s Borna Coric was far from the spotlight, and devastated.
When he went for right shoulder surgery last May, doctors had told him that he’d likely make it back for the US Open.
In reality, he was nowhere close.
“My shoulder and my surgery, it was a really crazy story,” the former world No.12 told reporters on Sunday after notching his first Grand Slam victory since the surgery, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 over Carlos Taberner of Spain. “I still don't know what happened.
“I mean, I do know, but maybe not exactly, and why the doctor said I'm going to be ready pretty much after four months and after three and a half months I was still not playing tennis, not even close, actually.”
A year after surgery, world No.275 Coric says he is still not completely pain-free, but is making proper strides in that direction.
Most important: he is finally feeling upbeat about the future again. Today’s win, which lasted three hours and 10 minutes on Court 13, was a perfect test for him to measure the strength of his shoulder.
As he ventures into the thick of the main draw in Paris, at the Grand Slam that is known for its "grind," Coric is passing all the tests.
“Absolutely it does feel great,” Coric said of the win, which snapped a five-match losing streak and set up a second-round clash with No.18 seed Grigor Dimitrov. “I also didn't know what to expect in terms of my shoulder because I've never been in the fourth set, in [best-of-five], since one and a half years now.
“So it was also kind of worrying for me, I didn't know how I'm going to feel, how my whole body is going to behave in those later sets. Obviously I've been practising it, but it's really never the same.”
Coric credits his physiotherapist Yianni Louizos and his doctor in Australia, Lyn Watson, for helping him through the roughest times last year, when doubts seeped in and he wasn't sure when – or if – he'd be back on tour.
“I mean obviously they really helped me a lot,” he said. “They stayed when it was really tough. Obviously because also they didn't know what was happening exactly and why it is taking me so long to come back. But we all stayed strong on our small team and, yeah, I did it.”
© Clément Mahoudeau/FFTCoric says he is still being careful with his shoulder as he tests its limits. Generally one of the most dedicated workhorses on tour, the Croatian says he will limit his schedule, at least through Wimbledon.
"I mean, obviously my health does comes first at this stage of my career," he said. "I've been out for one year, which is never easy. So I said, 'Until after Wimbledon, my health needs to come first.'"
Coric's first Grand Slam win since the 2021 Australian Open, which improved his lifetime record to 10-6 at Roland-Garros, is another step closer to taking the training wheels off.
“I think already the focus did change a little bit back to the tennis, which is obviously very good, very important, but at the same time, you know, with my shoulder, with my injury, I can never just say, ‘Okay, that's good, I don't need to think about my shoulder.’ I need to do every day what I need to do for my shoulder and then it's going to be fine.
“If I don't do it, most likely it won't be fine, so, you know, it's just managing those two things.”
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
