Borna Coric
didn't realize he qualified for the semifinals of the
Los Cabos Open after
defeating
Ilya Ivashka.
The
Croatian player continues his successful run in Los Cabos, where he entered as
the 8th seed. In the first round, he had a bye and then defeated Jasper Jung to
advance to the quarterfinals, where he faced the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka.
The World
No. 16 performed at a high level, especially with his serve, winning 84% of the
points played with his first serve, and secured the victory with a score of
6-3, 6-4 in their first-ever encounter.
At the end
of the match, Coric didn't realize that he had won the match and headed towards
the towel box, thinking that the game was still ongoing. The chair umpire
announced the final score, and Coric quickly realized his mistake, rushing back
to the net for the handshake with his opponent.
“We'll let @borna_coric
off for forgetting the score considering it's 3am in Los Cabos”
The match
started past midnight, as both the match between Alex de Minaur and Tommy Paul
and the clash between Nicolas Jarry and
Stefanos Tsitsipas went to three sets,
causing a delay in the final match between Ivashka and Coric.
The
26-year-old tennis player reached a new semifinal in a tournament, his first
since his elimination at the 2023 Madrid Open at the hands of the eventual
champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Coric
will face Tsitsipas in the semifinals, and their head-to-head record is evenly
matched, as they have faced each other six times, with each player securing
three victories.
When
considering only matches played on outdoor hard courts like in Los Cabos, Coric
holds a 2-1 advantage over Tsitsipas. Additionally, their most important
encounter took place in the final of the 2022 Cincinnati Open, where Coric
surprised Tsitsipas to claim his first Masters 1000 title of his career.