World No. 28 Borna Coric played some of his best tennis to outshine Dominic Thiem in a thrilling three-setter 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 to seal Croatia’s tie against Austria in Group E at the inaugural ATP Cup 2020. While the Croatian found his best play in Sydney, the Austrian criticised himself of not playing fearlessly.

The World No. 4 never lost hopes while trailing in the third set as he earned six break points in the decider. However, Coric held his nerves as he denied all those break opportunities for Thiem. After 2 hours and 43 minutes of nerve-wracking tennis, Coric celebrated Croatia’s win when Thiem launched a backhand long.

Dominic Thiem Displayed some self-criticism after a tough loss

“Instead of moving forward and to the net, I played too passive. It was a good fight. I was too scared at times, but things will change once I play more matches,” Thiem said in the post-match interview with ServusTV.

Coric saved 8 of the 12 breakpoints in the course of three sets. That’s when Thiem feels that he could have played more aggressively and put pressure on his opponent by coming to the net.

Also Read: Dominic Thiem Shoots A Warning Ahead Of ATP Cup 2020

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Coric and Thiem’s performance before coming into the match

Borna Coric came into this match after a losing streak of six matches in the 2019 season. However, the way the 23-year-old broke the losing streak on Saturday makes that seem like a distant memory.

On the other hand, Thiem walked into the Ken Rosewall Arena in Syndey with a three-match winning streak against the Croatian. He also finished the 2019 season on a happy note, reaching the finals of the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals 2019.

In the first singles rubber of the tie, former World No. 3 Marin Cilic battled hard from a set down to earn a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 victory against Dennis Novak and get a 1-0 lead for his country.