Rafael Nadal and Borna Coric square off in the first round of the 2015 US Open.
Rafael Nadal looks to find his form after playing some shaky tennis and getting bounced in the second round of the Wimbledon. Nadal has split his last four matches and is coming off a Cincinnati Masters loss to Feliciano Lopez. Nadal has made a lot of unforced errors lately and could certainly polish his service game if he’s going to return to the US Open final for a fourth straight straight appearance. The good news for Nadal is that he did win the Hamburg Open right after the Wimbledon and enters this tournament with some much-needed rest. Nadal hasn’t lost in the first round of a grand slam since the 2013 Wimbledon.
Borna Coric is an 18-year-old who has quickly gained some attention the past couple of years. Coric has split his last six matches and is coming off a Winston-Salem loss to Kevin Anderson in the quarterfinals. Coric already has two victories over top-10 players, which includes a win over Andy Murray in Dubai of this year. Coric has a strong backhand and plays with high confidence, making him somebody to really keep an eye on in the coming years. Coric has made at least the second round in three of his four grand slam appearances.
This will be the second time these two play each other, as Coric won their previous match in the 2014 Swiss Open. The match was on hard court and was decided in straight sets.
Could this be another upset? I mean, Coric already beat Murray this year and has proven he can beat Nadal. Coric also just took Stan Wawrinka the distance at the Cincinnati Masters. The kid can clearly play and won’t be intimidated.
While Nadal should win, I see value in taking the teenager in a monster first round upset, especially with the way Rafa has been playing lately.