Inked on Croatian teenager Borna Coric’s arm are the words: “There’s nothing worse in life than being ordinary.”
Andy Murray got a taste of the 18-year-old Coric’s pursuit of the extraordinary as the Croatian pulled off one of the biggest upsets of his nascent tennis career with a straight sets victory over the world No. 3.
Few had given Coric much chance of winning the pair’s quarterfinal contest at the Dubai Championships, his last victory against a top-10 ranked player dating back to a historic win over Rafael Nadal at the end of 2014.
Luck had played a part in Coric’s path to the last eight after he had initially lost to 350th-ranked Fabrice Martin in qualifying and he only snuck into the tournament by virtue of a lucky-loser berth.
But in a thoroughly one-sided quarterfinal contest, the teen served up a 6-1, 6-3 victory as Murray struggled to make inroads with 55 unforced errors.
Runner-up at the Australian Open last month, Murray mustered just 38 points in the 80-minute match.
The Briton was in Dubai without coach Amelie Mauresmo and had previously admitted to struggling to find playing partners.
But he made no excuses in the aftermath of his defeat.
“He didn’t make any errors,” Murray told the ATP World Tour website.
“He played very solid and he moved well. I made way too many mistakes from the beginning of the match right through to the end, early in the rallies, rushing points.”
It was a far cry from the pair’s last encounter in a Davis Cup tie in 2013. Prior to that contest, Coric had admitted he had no chance of victory.
But the world No. 84 has grown noticeably in confidence, saying in a recent interview that he was “the best of his generation.”
Coric has been tipped for a place among the world’s top 10 and Murray, for one, has noticed the improvement.
“He makes good decisions on the court, he’s stronger now, he serves a bit better,” said Coric. “His ranking would suggest that he’s made some big improvements.”