Borna Coric stuns Stefanos Tsitsipas to complete fairytale title triumph at the Cincinnati Masters

Borna Coric capped a fairytale week as he stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas to lift the Cincinnati title and become the lowest ranked Masters 1000 champion in history. The Croatian, who arrived in Ohio sitting at 152 on the ATP ladder and on a protected ranking, followed up his stunning triumphs over Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Britain’s Cameron Norrie by defeating the No.4 seed 7-6(0) 6-2 in one hour and 55 minutes. Ad It is Coric’s third ATP title and his maiden one at this level having lost his only previous Masters final to Novak Djokovic in Shanghai back in 2018.

It also sees the former world No.12 become only the fourth man from Croatia to be crowned a Masters 1000 champion as his comeback from a long-term injury gathers major momentum. ATP Cincinnati'I don't have much to lose' — Coric roars past Norrie, ready to take on Tsitsipas in final15 HOURS AGO Asked how he achieved the historic feat, Coric told Amazon Prime: «I’m not sure to be honest. Like I said many times this week, I didn’t come into this with much confidence.

I was not playing my best tennis and I was struggling. I just went match by match and that’s how I did it.» Coric managed just nine matches in 2021 as a result of surgery on his right shoulder and this season had been largely underwhelming until he downed 22-time Grand Slam champion, Nadal at the start of this week. Croatia's new No.2 admitted the second round win over the Spaniard was the catalyst, but suggested staying grounded was the key to what followed.

He added: «It has happened to me before where I’ve beaten big players and then lost the next day. So, I was very calm and focused. I knew it wasn’t the end of the tournament and wanted to stay calm and focused and