Borna Coric knocks off Andy Murray to advance to semi-finals of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

DUBAI // On December 1 last year, Borna Coric introduced his 9,000 or so followers on Instagram to a new tattoo he got himself. Inked on the inside of the 18 year old’s right biceps were the words, “There is nothing worse in life than being ordinary”.

Thankfully, the young Croat will not have to suffer the ignominy of being ordinary, for he is clearly on his way to becoming extraordinary. His straight-sets win over Rafael Nadal in Basel last October, before his 18th birthday, provided ample evidence. Now, there is further confirmation.

– Novak Djokovic makes quick work of Marsel Ilhan and cruises into Dubai semi-finals

Playing some sensational tennis in front of an admiring crowd at a packed Aviation Club, Coric, who earned a ticket into the main draw as a lucky loser after Philipp Kohlschreiber’s late withdrawal, made another member of the Big Four, Andy Murray, look ordinary in a 6-1, 6-3 win to reach the last four of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

No wonder Novak Djokovic sees glimpses of himself in the youngster.

“Well, he’s definitely one of the most talented players right now in the world,” the world No 1 said on Wednesday. “He beat Nadal in Basel four or five months ago, and since that tournament you can feel he has matured a lot. He feels comfortable playing with top players.”

Practising with Djokovic here in December must have helped, as well. Twelve months earlier, Coric had spent 10 days training with Nadal, and his list of hitting partners includes Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and David Ferrer.

The top players have noticed his talents and have been taking him under their wing.

“I practiced with him a lot in the last two, three months,” Djokovic said. “I try to help him because I see, in a way, myself through him. I’ve never felt the way when I practice with somebody as I felt with him. It’s like playing myself, very similar game – great fighting spirit, disciplined, focused, committed, confident. Very young, but confident, which is important.”

That confidence was very much on display yesterday, even in the opening game. With Murray serving at deuce, Coric attempted an audacious drop shot from the back. The Scot managed to retrieve it and hold serve, but it was the only time he managed to do that in that opening set.

In his previous match against Joao Sousa, Murray did not face a single break point; against Gilles Muller in the first round, he saved three of the four break points he faced in the match.

Yesterday, in the opening set alone, the world No 3 was broken three times. On the other hand, Murray could win only two points in Coric’s three service games.

“I think he didn’t make many errors,” said Murray, who finished with 55 unforced errors to Coric’s 21. “I made way too many mistakes from the beginning of the match right through to the end, rushing points.

“But, yeah, he moved well, made a lot of balls, very few errors. Made it tough.”

Murray should have expected that. Many of Croatia’s current and former stars had warned about Coric’s abilities.

“Borna is going to be very, very good,” Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion who has worked with Coric since his early teens, told the ATP website last year. “He is very strong mentally for his age, he is fast and big occasions do not worry him.”

“He’s a warrior,” Mario Ancic, another former Croatian pro, told the ATP. “He will grind, he will bleed; he will find a way to win.”

The warrior part, again, should not be a surprise. Coric has grown up idolising the former boxing superstar Mike Tyson. The Zagreb native has watched all his fights on YouTube and hopes to try to his hand at professional boxing once his tennis career is over.

But that could be a long time away. For now, his focus will be on emulating his idol. Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight world champion at the age of 20.

If Coric can maintain his current progress, he should be a top 10 player, at least, at that age. His extraordinariness demands that.

arizvi@thenational.ae

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ENGLAND SQUAD

Team: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Sam Simmonds

Replacements 16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Jack Nowell

Analysis

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Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

Meydan card

6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m

Tips for SMEs to cope

Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
Make sure you have an online presence
Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.

The Bio

Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959

Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.

He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses

Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas

His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s

Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business

He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery

Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.