Borna Coric, ranked 23rd in the world, will play American Maxime Cressy, who is rated 51st, in the 2023 ATP Montpellier Open quarterfinal on Saturday.
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Even though he was a little pushed in the second set, Coric used his experience to his advantage and defeated Arthur Rinderknech in the tournament’s second round in straight sets. Following a first round bye, Coric maintained his Davis Cup winning streak by defeating Rinderknech 6-3, 7-5 to secure his spot in the quarterfinals. Coric entered this competition on the heels of a loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas and an early departure at the Australian Open, however he had already defeated Rinderknech once this season at the United Cup. It would have been a comfort for him to interrupt the Rinderknech party in a little more than an hour and a half. Coric never had any issues serving, winning about 75% of his attempts while avoiding break points. In the five chances he had, he broke his opponent twice, one in each set, to advance to the quarterfinals. Can he now get to the semifinals here, like he did in Vienna last October, when he last reached the round of sixteen?
The oddsmakers made Emil Ruusuvuori the 9/20 favourite to win his match against Cressy in the second round. In other words, it was anticipated that the Finnish player would find it easy. As it turned out, Cressy made the most of his home advantage by cruising to a 6-4, 6-4 triumph in just 79 minutes to secure an unexpected quarterfinal berth. In a match in which he faced just one break-point and easily saved it, Cressy pounded down 15 aces and broke his opponent twice from the three opportunities he received. It was intriguing to see that both players had an 88% first-serve winning percentage and that Ruusuvuori also outscored his rival by a few points on second serves. Cressy’s ability to win the match’s pivotal points was what really made the difference. We cannot disregard Cressy’s performance in the last round, where his ability to crank it up at the proper time stood out, even though Coric is 9/20 to win this as well. Fighting is about to break out.
| Borna Coric vs Maxime Cressy | Match details |
|---|---|
| Date | February 11, 2023 |
| Surface | Hard courts |
| Tournament | Montpellier Open |
| Stage | Quarterfinals |
| Time (India) | 01:00 am |
| Time (France) | 9:30 pm |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Jiri Lehecka | 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 (L) |
| Corentin Moutet | 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 (L) |
| Denis Shapovalov | 7-6, 6-0 (L) |
| Hubert Hurkacz | 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 (W) |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (W) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Emil Ruusuvuori | 6-4, 6-4 (W) |
| Antoine Belier | 6-3, 6-2 (W) |
| Holger Rune | 5-7, 4-6, 4-6 (L) |
| Albert Ramos | 7-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 (W) |
| Thanasi Kokkinakis | 6-7, 6-7 (L) |
0-0. It will be interesting to see if Maxime Cressy can maintain the serving level he demonstrated against Antoine Bellier and Emil Ruusuvuori, which is good enough to compete with any player in these circumstances. Borna Coric hasn’t faced a returner of Maxime Cressy’s calibre yet in Montpellier this week.
Borna Coric and Maxime Cressy will take on each other in the quarterfinals of the 2023 ATP Montpellier Open on February 11.
Australia – beIN Sports
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France – Eurosport
Latin America – ESPN
US – Tennis Channel
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