19-year-old Borna Coric is searching for his fourth coach of his young career, after splitting with Miles Maclagan after working together for less than a year. In partnership together, Coric suffered three first-round exits at Grand Slams, but posted his best two performances at Masters 1000 level, with a recent quarterfinal appearance in Cincinnati.
Coric announces coaching split with Maclagan
Maclagan began coaching Coric in December of 2015, after the Croatian split with Thomas Johansson at the end of his first full year on the professional circuit. The Zambian-born ex-player has previously worked with the likes of Andy Murray, Marcos Baghdatis and Laura Robson, was in his first coaching position since splitting with Sam Stosur in 2014, and the partnership began brightly, as Coric reached his first ever ATP tour final in Chennai in the first week of the season, before Stan Wawrinka proved too much in the final to take home his third title in the Indian city. After the early success, another final has arrived for Coric, but three first round exits in the four Grand Slams has taken it’s toll on the coaching partnership.
The Croatian announced through the agency company, StarWing Sports Management, the decision to split with the 41 year-old, thanking Maclagan for his contribution in the short period together.
Coric was quoted as saying;
“I would like to thank Miles for his hard work and dedication. I will look into my options at the moment and see what the best solutions are going forward”.
The 19 year-old is now looking at appointing his fourth coach in his short career, after working alongside former professional player Zeljko Krajan as well as Johansson and Maclagan.
An up-and-down 2016 for Coric
Coric’s 2016 thus far has been up-and-down, with two finals and a quarterfinal in Cincinatti equalled-up by disappointing showings at the Grand Slams, other than his progression to the third round at Roland Garros.
His maiden ATP tour final was backed up by a run to the final in Marrakech, where Federico Delbonis edged him out in similar fashion to Wawrinka. These achievements rival his recent run to the last eight in Cincinnati, where he defeated Nick Kyrgios, and later Rafael Nadal in convincing style, before reitring whilst trailing to eventual champion Marin Cilic in the next round. The 2013 US Open juniors champion also reached the third round in Indian Wells, but has struggled to take this kind of form to the top echelons of professional tennis.
Other than winning two matches at the French Open, no other wins at the majors have been registered in 2016, with the most recent due to a retirement at the US Open against Felciano Lopez in the opening set of their first round encounter. The world number 41 will hope to build on the positives from the year ahead of the upcoming Davis Cup semifinal with France in just under two weeks time. His participation was thrown into doubt with the recent injury, but he’s expected to be fully-healed for the arrival of the talented French side.
