“I need to take a piss lots of time” – Coric explains how his nerves manifest

Coric won the singles rubber over Bautista Agut to help set up Croatia’s 2-0 win over Spain

Borna Coric at the Davis Cup Finals 2022 in Malaga, Spain. Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic

November 24, 2022

Every player feels the nerves before and during a match – no matter how experienced they may be. Only the magnitude and the manner in which they manifest may be different.

For Croatia’s Borna Coric, who has been on the pro tour for almost a decade now, the nerves manifest in the need to go to the bathroom more often and a weird feeling in his stomach, as he told the media after his win over Roberto Bautista Agut in the Davis Cup on Wednesday.

“I need to take a piss lots of time (smiling). So that’s one thing,” Coric said. “And the second is probably I just feel weird in my stomach. Just, nervous like — I cannot explain the feeling.”

“I had very, very good 10 days of the preparation”- Coric on getting ready for the Davis Cup

However, Coric, who was off the tour for a year starting March 2021 due to injuries but returned to claim his first career Masters Series title in Cincinnati this August, says the nervous energy makes him feel happy and alive.

“But again, I like it. It makes me very happy, makes me alive, in a way. I don’t mind the feeling, actually. You know, like I said, once it’s been there for not too many days in a row, and if I need to play five tournaments in a row, then obviously I don’t like it anymore and I need some rest. But in general, I like that feeling. That’s one of the main reasons why I play tennis as well is because I just like it,” Coric continued.

The 26-year-old, who admitted that he was very nervous before the match, helped set up Croatia for a 2-0 win over Spain which now puts them into Friday’s semi-final against Australia.

“I was very nervous, to be honest. I don’t know why, but I was very, very nervous today before the match. But like I said before, I like it, as well, in a weird way. I had a couple of days off after Paris. I did need that as well, but after those five or six days — I was really enjoying my time on my vacation, but already after that, I felt like I needed, you know, the adrenaline and the game, so I started to train. I was preparing very good for the Davis Cup, to be honest. I had very, very good 10 days of the preparations.”