Clutch Borna Coric deals Hurkacz’s Turin chances a blow in Vienna

Croat Borna Coric edged out Pole Hubert Hurkacz, the No 5 seed, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5) to reach the semi-finals of the Vienna Open at the Wiener Stadthalle on Friday evening.

Coric, ranked No 27, will face the winner of the match between Daniel Evans and Canadian Denis Shapovalov next.

The loss puts a dent in Hurkacz’s hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin – the Pole currently sits at No 9 in the race, 455 points behind Felix Auger-Aliassime, and 50 points behind Taylor Fritz.

He will still have a shot to qualify only if he can produce a shimmering result at the Paris Masters next week, where he is the tenth seed.

Coric riding high as season winds down

Coric is not in contention for Turin, but the talented 25-year-old continues to impress in a resurgent season that has seen him claim his first Masters 1000 title (at Cincinnati) as he has returned from shoulder surgery (in 2021) to assert himself as a top-level talent.

The Croatian is 14-3 since the start of his run in Cincinnati, and he has won seven of eight against the top-20.

He backed up his victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday with a similar effort, born of grit and determination as he saved all four break points he faced (3 for 3 in the final set) and struck 36 winners against 11 unforced errors.

The Croat won against French qualifier Quentin Halys (3-6, 7-5, 6-3) and edged out Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the second seed (4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4)) ahead of his victory.

Earlier in the tournament, Hurkacz, ranked No 11, beat American Frances Tiafoe (7-6 (9), 3-6, 6-3) and Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (7-5, 4-6, 6-3).

Vienna ATP 500, other last eight results (Wiener Stadthalle, EUR 2.349.180, most recent results first):

• Daniel Evans vs. Denis Shapovalov
• Daniil Medvedev (1) beat Jannik Sinner (6): 6-4, 6-2
• Grigor Dimitrov beat Marcos Giron: 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

You might also like this

Borna, again! Coric earns third consecutive victory over Tsitsipas in Vienna

tennis majors

Cincinnati, Croatia, Davis Cup: Everything you always wanted to know about Borna Coric (but never had time to find out) – updated after 2024 Montpellier Open

tennis majors

“I was just believing that I can win the next match. That’s what I did for five days in a row” – Cincinnati champion Coric

tennis majors