Coric happy with progress post injury

While a knee injury curtailed his last season prematurely, Coric hopes to come back with a bang. “I am happy with the way I have progressed so far. My preparation has been good over the last 35 days. I have recovered well and have hit the strides. I am hitting the ball well and I don’t see anything that I should be worried about,” Coric, last-year’s runner-up, said. 

Coric said his immediate focus would be to better his last year’s performance and get into the top-20 in the ATP ranking. “The last season was volatile. I started well in Chennai and didn’t do well in the Australian Open. I then played A final in Morocco and just when I had started to play well, there was the knee injury in Septemeber. I just need to bounce back and do well. The main goal would be to stay healthy. I wasn’t injured for six to seven years and I didn’t know the feeling of an injury and to stay away from tennis. Ranking wise, I would love to get into the top-20 too,” Coric, ranked 48 added. 

The Croatian who changed three coaches in a year is now working with former player Ivica Ancic and said Ancic has been able to make a difference. “We started working after US Open after I split with Miles. We didn’t agree on little things. If I am not happy, I have to change coaches as it impacts my career. Ancic and I have been working together for one-and-a-half months now and I am happy with my progress. He is pushing me hard on and off the courts, which is important too,” the 20-year-old said. Coric who had beat Rafael Nadal twice and Andy Murray once concurred that he has lived up to the expectations of a promising player. 

“I have done a good job. I moved to my highest ranking of 33. I have beaten good players and I am sure there are many more to come. There are no regrets on anything looking back,” he added. While beating Nadal and Murray are the highlights of his career, Coric said he was lucky to beat the Spaniard twice. “He (Rafa) has been under injury whenever he played against me (laughs). I consider myself lucky that way. He wasn’t his 100% but I was playing well too and I could see he was  struggling,” Coric said.