Borna Coric sets ambitious rankings target after he lands big ATP award

Croatia’s Borna Coric has been one of the stand-out players on the ATP Tour in 2022 and now he has set his sights on a lofty target for the new year.

Ćorić missed most of 2021 with a shoulder problem, but he bounced back in fine fashion to make a rapid leap up the ATP rankings in a year that saw him claim his first ATP 1000 event in Cincinnati.

A year of consistency ensured he was named as the ATP’s Comeback Player of the Year in the annual awards.

Speaking to All Court Tennis Club in Dubai, the world No 26 has suggested his targets have now been elevated and he is looking to break into the top ten for the first time.

“That week in Cincinnati has shown me that I can compete at the highest level,” he said.

“It has given me the motivation to go on court and work even harder. It shows that I can become a top ten player and hopefully even more one day.

“I don’t want to set too many goals, but that would be the next step for me (top ten).

“I have been No.12 in the world and hopefully I can make it even higher now by reaching the top ten.

“The most important thing is to be healthy and then the results will come.

“Overall, this has been a good year for me. I improved my ranking more than I expected, but my goals are to improve on things I know I need to improve on.

“Things I have been working on for the last couple of months, and also to stay healthy.

“That has been a big challenge for me during my career and even this year I had health problems I had to overcome.

“Hopefully, I can play the next full season without any injuries.”

The annual ATP awards are always hotly contested, so Coric’s win in the Comeback of the Year awards an achievement to be proud about.

“I’m super happy to win the ATP Comeback Player of the Year award,” Coric told the ATP.

“Obviously it does mean a lot to me after a very, very hard season, and after my shoulder surgery.

“So all I can say is thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. It does mean a lot to me and obviously, I hope that my next season is going to be even better.”

Coric was nominated in the comeback category alongside three other players who have overcome injury to re-establish themselves as a major force on the ATP Tour – Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka and Wu Yibing.

Now he will be hoping to make an impact at the Australian Open, after confirming he has changed his approach to the event as he looks to climate earlier.

“It is good to be in Dubai early getting used to the hot weather,” he added.

“In the past, I have stayed in Croatia for too long and the cold weather is not good preparation for Australia.

“That might be one of the reasons why I did not always play my best tennis there, but I have come to Dubai early this year to start preparing, so hopefully that can help me.”

Coric has admitted he needs to go to exhaustive lengths to keep his troublesome shoulder in good shape to play at the highest level, with the best-of-five-set format at the Australian Open set to be a big test.

Yet in a year that saw him beat Rafael Nadal, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Stefanos Tsitsipas en-route to the Cincinnati title, he is a player to watch next year.

Borna Coric was speaking to All Court Tennis Club.