Wimbledon 2015: Former junior world No 1 Borna Coric hoping to make the same level on the senior circuit

Coric won first Wimbledon match against Sergiy Stakhovsky

(Getty Images)

Borna Coric is a man in a hurry, but he was made to wait on Tuesday before reaching the men’s singles second round. A former world junior No 1 he is determined to reach the same rank on the pro circuit.

“Croatian tennis player on a mission to the top!” has been his facebook profile and his reasoning when moving on from former coach Ryan Jones, a Briton, was that he could see signs that their relationship was declining and, “If you want to become No 1 you need to stay on top of everything.“

His approach has so far paid off. In October, still aged 17, he became the youngest player to make the top 100 since Rafael Nadal, a feat achieved off the back of beating the Spanish giant in Basle. Nadal was suffering from appendicitis at the time, so not too much could be made of the result. However, there was nothing wrong with Andy Murray when he was beaten in straight sets by Coric in Dubai in February. Only Novak Djokovic has beaten Murray since.

Coric made his Wimbledon debut - having lost in the qualifiers last summer. He was not a stranger to the courts, he reached the third round of junior Wimbledon in 2013, but it was his introduction to the unique atmosphere that suffuses SW19 at this time of year.

His opponent, Sergiy Stakhovsky, had a backstory which showed that nothing can be taken for granted in the ultra-competitive world of men’s tennis. Good enough in his junior career to reach the US Open final (losing to Andy Murray) and beat Novak Djokovic, by the age of 24 he had reached No 31 in the world. But there his progress stalled. The Ukrainian is now 29, ranked 49, and still to reach the second week of a grand slam.

The pair were on court 10. Space was cramped enough for Coric to run into a line judge trying to field one Stakhovsky cross-shot. They were so surrounded by other courts at one point Stakhovsky had to ask the umpire to speak up when calling a let as “there are so many courts we can’t tell if it is you”.

In this tight arena the older man’s experience told as he won the first set 6-4 but the teenager fought back to take the second on the tie-break. Now coached by Swede Thomas Johansson, a one-time grand slam winner, Coric broke early in the third and wrapped it up 6-2. Stakhovsky has, however, been around a while. Two years ago he beat Roger Federer here when the Swiss was defending champion. He responded by winning the fourth 6-1 as Coric’s serve deserted him.

Into the fifth set, with the mercury still in the high 20s. At 5-4 Coric forced a match point, but sent his return into orbit. Other chances came, and went. Then, at 9-8, with Coric showing signs of hamstring trouble, Stakhovsky sent a forehand cross-court into the tramlines. Coric had been to wait five minutes short of four hours, but he was into the second round.