Top seed Borna Coric held his nerve in key moments Tuesday to reach the third round of the Winston-Salem Open.
The Croatian defeated Rinky Hijikata 6-2, 7-6(2), after two hours, three minutes. Coric fended off 12 of 13 break points he faced and stayed consistent in the second-set tie-break to advance at the ATP 250.
“[Rinky] was really playing great today and I thought in the first set I was playing some good tennis,” Coric said in his on-court interview. “In the second set, he served much better. I was just playing better and I played a really good tie-break.”
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Coric, who is World No. 29 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, is aiming for his first tour-level title since his dream run at last year’s ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. Coric is making his third appearance in Winston-Salem, having reached the quarter-finals in 2015 and 2017.
The 26-year-old will next meet an American, 13th seed Marcos Giron or wild card Michael Mmoh.
Coric led the way for the Top 5 seeds in Winston-Salem on Tuesday, as all five advanced to the third round. Second seed Tallon Griekspoor advanced after Jack Draper retired when the Dutchman led 7-6(8).
Third seed Sebastian Korda cruised past Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 6-3. Fourth seed Laslo Djere defeated Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-3, 6-3. Fifth seed Jiri Lehecka rallied from a set down to beat qualifier Mitchell Krueger 2-6, 6-2. 6-3.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/GZaK1us
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