Tennis News: Cincinnati Open - Borna Coric beats Stefanos Tsitsipas to capture maiden Masters 1000 crown

Borna Coric put forth an excellent display of grit and excellent baseline play to rally from 1-4 in the opening set. 

After winning the hard-fought first-set tiebreak, the 25-year-old Croatian cruised past the fourth-seeded Greek in the second set to secure his victory after one hour and 57 minutes of play.

It was the first time Borna Coric was competing at a tour-level final since 2020. He won against Spanish legend Rafael Nadal, Italy's Lorenzo Musetti and British No. 1 Cameron Norrie en route to the championship match.

World No. 7 Stefanos started strong and raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening set but failed to continue with the momentum after a series of unforced errors allowed Borna Coric to pull off a reversal.

Borna Coric built pressure on his Greek opponent with his tight groundstrokes and got a decisive break in the sixth game of the second set. He served seven aces, won 78% of the points on the first serve and fired 18 winners to just 14 unforced errors to ensure his victory.

The victory extended the win-loss record of Borna Coric against Stefanos Tsitsipas to 2-1.

After the victory, Borna Coric said, "I have no words, to be honest. It's just an unbelievable feeling. Like I said many times, I am just going to enjoy this. I thought I could play well. I was training hard, and I knew I could play good tennis, but that I could play this level tennis, I was just not aware. I am just super happy."

He had missed most of the last season due to a medical issue with his shoulder and has come a long way since making his comeback at the Indian Wells earlier this season. 

Borna Coric has now won three tour-level titles, including the trophies at the 2017 Marrakech Open and 2018 Halle Open. 

The title victory at the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati also ensured that the Croatian would move to the Wolrd No. 28 spot on the Pepperstone ATP Rankings from World No. 152.