12th seed, Borna Coric withdrew from his second-round US Open match in New York due to a low back strain. His withdrawal comes as a blow, especially after playing some dominant tennis in his opening round match.

He was placed in the top half of the draw and under Roger Federer‘s quarter. The twelfth seed, Borna Coric was drawn to meet Kei Nishikori in the fourth round and a victory over the Japanese would have set up a quarterfinal clash with the Swiss great, Federer.

Now, due to his withdrawal, Federer’s road to the semifinal seems unchallenging and Nishikori is the next highest seed in his quadrant. Prior to Coric’s retirement, Kevin Anderson withdrew from the tournament and because to that, Stan Wawrinka became the highest seed in Novak Djokovic’s quarter.

In the round of 64 of the US Open 2019, the Croatian had set up a meeting with the Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov. In the first round in New York, Dimitrov defeated Andreas Seppi in four sets.

Coric’s injury woes persisted from Wimbledon 2019 and manifested again, forcing the World Number 12 to withdraw. He also pulled out from this year’s grass-court major, thus breaking his streak of Grand Slam attendances, since his major debut at US Open 2014.

Thereafter, Coric could only win a match at Montreal Masters where he defeated Peter Gojowczyk. Later, at US Open 2019 he defeated Evgeny Donskoy in straight sets during the first round.

This season, Borna Coric is yet open his ATP title account. He made it to the semi-finals at Dubai Open (which was his best run this season) but lost to the ultimate champion, Roger Federer. He was the reigning semi-finalist at Indian Wells but lost to the big server, Ivo Karlovic in the first round and also couldn’t defend his title at Halle Open. 

At US Open 2018, Borna Coric achieved his personal best record in the tournament by reaching the fourth round.