Borna Coric of Croatia on Wednesday produced a stunning performance to end Rafael Nadal's run at the Western and Southern Open and advance to the third round in Cincinnati after hard fought battle.
Coric spoiled the return of the Spaniard after a five-year absence from the ATP Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday with a 7-6 (11/9), 4-6, 6-3 upset in the second round.
The Croatian fought for two hours, 51 minutes to secure his biggest win of the season by both opponent and stage.
Both players opened confidently, the Spaniard made a remarkably strong start, playing shots into a down-the-line backhand on the very first point and not making an unforced error until the seventh game.
With Nadal double-faulting on Coric's third set point, the Croatian made amends after a clumsy drop shot on a short ball at 9/8.
He supported the breakthrough with a love hold and had no problems serving out the match after extending his final service game with a statement winner to cap a victory.
He will next face Roberto Bautista Agut, who cruised to the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 victory against home hope Marcos Giron earlier on Wednesday.
"It's going to be a very interesting match," said Coric, who holds a 5-4 ATP Head2Head series lead against the Spaniard.
"I need to be very aggressive for sure, especially because I was playing for a very long time today and I also finished very late. So I'm going to be even more aggressive probably," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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