Up and coming tennis star Borna Coric revealed in an interview with puntodebreak.com that he reached out to Ivan Ljubicic when he was looking for a coach during the offseason. The 19-year-old Croatian said he spoke to Ljubicic about the possibility of working together, but the two sides never reached a deal.
“We talked, but it did not come to fruition. We discussed the various options, but we did not reach any agreement. Surely, at that point he had already been contacted by Federer,” said Coric, currently ranked 40. Ljubicic, a former world number three, worked with Canadian Milos Raonic for two years after retiring in 2012. After ending his partnership with Raonic, he started to work for Roger Federer in December last year.
Coric and his manager were aware of the people who could coach him. Last year, he changed coaches twice. Coric was with Zeljko Krajan in the early part of the 2015 season but then in November, he started to work with Thomas Johansson.
However, it didn’t last long as he started working with Miles Maclagan, a month after Johansson. Maclagan, a former British tennis player, previously coached various tennis players that included Andy Murray, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Marcos Baghdatis, Laura Robson, and Sam Stosur.
"We are still getting to know each other. For now, the impression is very good. I am satisfied,” Coric said. He added that tournament results will tell if the new partnership with Maclagan is working.
Coric and his fast rising tennis career
The tennis world took notice of the young Croatian when he beat Rafael Nadal at the Swiss Indoors Basel in 2014. After he had started the 2014 season outside the top 300, Coric ended up inside the Top 100 and won the ATP Star of Tomorrow during the ATP World Tour Finals in London. In 2015, Coric continued to show potential as he surged through the rankings that culminated in July when he reached a career-high ranking of 33. The Croatian was the youngest player in the top 50 of the ATP Rankings by the end of last year.
Coric started his 2016 campaign in Chennai where he reached the finals only to be beaten by Stan Wawrinka. He had a disappointing result in his second tune-up tournament in Sydney, exiting in the first round after a straight sets lost to Gilles Muller.
He has been named in Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 sports list of 2016. The Croatian is considered one of the brightest emerging tennis players today. According to him, his goals for the new season are to win his first ATP Tournament and to get into the top 30.