Tennis / borna coric

With both my previous bets today being cancelled due to Nadal and Fucsovics both pulling out with injuries I thought I would post one more tonight for anyone interested in another tip. This one sees a clash of two very successful youngsters this year, both enjoying the best year of their career and incredibly meeting for a fourth time in six months! Coric and Medvedev have already clashed at Wimbledon, Cincinnati and the US Open in the latter half of this year. Medvedev drew first blood this year by upsetting Coric at Wimbledon beating him 3 sets to love after Coric wad favourite having clinched the Halle Grass ATP 500 title shocking Federer with a sublime performance in the final. Coric was the clear favourite and Medvedev was going through a bit of a rough patch so that was completely against the form book. Coric was to later take his revenge twice in two weeks as he beat Medvedev in straight sets at the Cincinnati Masters and then the US Open in New York. Here I think he can go for a hatrick of wins against the Russian. The reason why the bookies are rating both players odds as equal is because Medvedev is going through a purple patch of form having won Winston-Salem in August on a hard court plus the Tokyo ATP 500 this month too. Since those two clashes Medvedev has been unfortunate to meet Roger Federer in two out of three of his most recent tournaments, losing both. But having said Coric also faced Federer this month in Shanghai and managed to do what Medvedev couldn't - beat Federer and in straight sets. That's on top of the previously mentioned victory vs the Swiss in Halle. I fancied Coric in Vienna too, I think he's one of the most solid younger players coming through behind Zverev. I'm hoping on his quick return from a niggling injury he can get straight back at it this week. For me he has the game to score a hatrick of wins vs Medvedev. Where as some may look at Medvedev's win in the first round against Pablo Carreno Busta as impressive, a quick look at the Spaniards form will reveal he has also lost to the currently poor Frenchman of tennis - Benoire Paire in straight sets twice in a row of late. He's also had a very mixed season. So I wouldn't say that match revealed so much for me in Paris. Let's study Medvedev's recent losses to get a feel of where his weaknesses are right now. Medvedev's Recent Defeats vs Federer - 0-2 - Basel Indoor 500 - October vs Khachanov - 1-2 - Moscow Semi Finals - October vs Federer - 1-2 - Shanghai Masters - October vs Thiem - 1-2 - St Petersburg - September vs Coric - 0-3 - US Open - September All these defeats were after he took the title in Winston-Salem vs Steve Johnson. In that tournament he faced some very average opposition all the way through to the final. So for me that win was a bit of a red herring. His Tokyo victory was more impressive in October because there he defeated a much stronger range of players and didn't conceded a single set to anyone. Since that win he has looked a little more fragile, his last loss to Federer was probably his worst performance, he look very average and pretty much gifted Federer the win in Basel. Medvedev struggles against players with better court coverage and who posses power from the baseline. Federer although now 37 covered the court as good as Medvedev in his two wins but has better and more powerful ground strokes. Thiem has better ground strokes of both the fore and backhand, more power and covers the court faster than Medvedev too. Khachanov has more power but covers the court around the equal of his fellow Russian. All these players prevailed over Medvedev. Coric has better court coverage than Medvedev and more power off his backhand. His forehand is more conservative than Medvedev's but this is to his benefit because e lands a lot more balls back into play and has fewer unforced errors. Though Coric's serve is not as strong as Medvedev's in terms of speed, he has markedly improved it this year and is landing more aces and cheap points from it. Coric Has Had a Bit of Wobble Too Coric in late September and early October lost to perhaps worse players than Medvedev did - Cameron Norrie and Feliciano Lopez. He wrote those wrongs by putting in a sterling effort to reach the final of Shanghai where he played some of his best tennis to date when losing to Djokovic in the final in two close sets. In his last tournament in Vienna he looked still in with a shot vs Anderson in the second set and for me that match still could have gone either way. Here in Paris, Coric is the stronger player of the two from the baseline, has better court coverage than Medvedev and a better backhand. This will still prove a close match but I believe the young Croatian will prevail over three sets. Match Prediction: With 2 straight set wins this year over Medvedev in their last two encounters and a 3-1 head to head record overall Coric has the historical edge plus he can still draw from this months run in Shanghai to take out the bear for the third time in six months. I am still not convinced Medvedev has the all around game to make it into and remain in the top 10, something I almost certainly believe Coric does have and will break into the top 10 next year. You will likely see the Croation out rally the Russian here and won't necessarily see him always trying to pull the trigger, he will know at 6ft 6 inches tall Medvedev will tire easily and he will be able to pick him off as he does. Coric to win outright at 1.95. Watch: Highlights: Coric Scores a Straight Sets Win Over Medvedev at 2018 US Open