Borna Coric creates his perfect ATP player – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray all feature
World No 37 Borna Coric has created his perfect ATP tennis player, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Carlos Alcaraz all featuring.
In a video for the ATP Tour, Coric was asked to choose between current and former stars of the men’s game for a range of categories to build the ultimate player.
The 27-year-old Croatian, a winner of three ATP titles who has been ranked as high as No 12, largely selected active players, but also named a couple of retired Grand Slam champions he described as “idols.”
FOREHAND – Juan Martin Del Potro
“Whenever I played him, I just felt under so much pressure. It’s such a flat shot but at the same time, I feel it’s actually so safe and you know, I just felt like he cannot miss it.”
TWO-HANDED BACKHAND – Novak Djokovic
“I think it’s a super consistency shot. It’s not that fast but at the same time, I feel like he cannot miss it. I feel like the last time he missed it was probably 10 years ago and he can play it any angle on any surface.”
ONE-HANDED BACKHAND – Stan Wawrinka
“I did play him a couple of times as well and I felt like it’s his best shot. Again, he can create many angles with it and the power as well is absolutely unbelievable.”
SERVE – Goran Ivanisevic
“He had one of the best serves on the tour. I’ve actually never played him in official match obviously, but I was always looking up to him. I did try to pick up also his technique on his serve which didn’t work out well for me. But yeah, he was my idol, so I’ll take his serve. I think it’s also part because he’s left-hander and that makes also a big difference.”
RETURN – Andy Murray
“I played him a couple of times and I couldn’t get the serve past him; he can make the pressure on the return. That’s the two main components of the return in my opinion.”
SLICE – Grigor Dimitrov
“I really like his slice, I would say one of the best on tour. Super sharp, doesn’t miss it a lot and I feel like he can play any angle.”
READ MORE: Grigor Dimitrov builds unique perfect tennis player and picks himself with Djokovic, Nadal, Federer
NET GAME – Pete Sampras
“Never played him, also one of my idols. Definitely one of the best volleys out there.”
SPEED – Carlos Alcaraz
“We played a couple of times and I think at the moment he is the fastest on the tour.”
MENTAL TOUGHNESS – Rafael Nadal
“I played him many times and we all know how mentally tough he is. I just think he never gives up and we all know it and we all know he can come back from any situation.”
COMPETITIVENESS – Rafael Nadal
“Again, I’m gonna go with Rafa.”
CELEBRATION – Rafael Nadal
“Also Rafa, probably when he was a little bit younger especially.”