Injured, Coric Withdraws Before Facing France in Davis Cup

World No. 107 Borna Coric is going through a difficult period. The Croatian, winner of the 2022 Cincinnati Masters 1000, is on a five-match losing streak and is mainly competing on the Challenger circuit, even though his last five tournaments have been on the main tour. Defeated in the first round of the US Open by Jiri Lehecka, the 28-year-old player made a stark assessment.

"Sometimes you have to face reality—I’m not the player I used to be, and that’s all there is to it. I’ve given myself, so to speak, a 'deadline' to sit down and think about the relevance of all this. I don’t want to go into details right now, but yes, I’m setting deadlines for myself to reach a certain ranking.

I could always hover around the top 100, play a lot of Challenger tournaments, and be around 80th in the ATP rankings, but that doesn’t interest me. I have to work very hard to be able to step on the court and perform well," Coric stated after his elimination at Flushing Meadows.

Coric’s next goal was supposed to be the Davis Cup qualifying match against France on the clay courts of Osijek. However, the former world No. 12 will not be able to take his place due to an injury.

Thus, it is Matej Dodig who will ultimately complete the Croatian team that will challenge Les Bleus this weekend. The 20-year-old player, ranked 258th in the world, will join Marin Cilic, Dino Prizmic, Mate Pavic, and Nikola Mektic in preparing for this match, which will allow the winning team to compete in the Final 8 in two months in Bologna.