Borna Ćorić runner-up at St. Petersburg Open for second year in a row
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
ST. PETERSBURG, 18 October 2020 – Croatia’s Borna Ćorić has had to settle for the runners-up prize at the St. Petersburg Open on Sunday.
The 23-year-old, who was the tournament’s 7th seed, lost to 3rd seed Andrey Rublev in today’s final 7-6, 6-4. The final was the Croatian’s seventh ATP Tour final and his second in a row at the St. Petersburg Open.
The match may have ended differently had Ćorić taken his chance in the opening set tie-break when he led 5-2, but the Russian managed to win five points in a row to claim the set.
A break at 2-2 was enough for Rublev to claim the second set and his sixth tour title.
“Honestly, I don’t like losing, but if I had to lose, I’d like to lose against you,” Ćorić told Rublev after the match in his speech.
In reaching the final, Ćorić recorded his seventh win in nine matches at the event.
”It is going to be a very difficult match, for sure,” said Ćorić before the match. “The last time I played him was in 2019 in Shanghai and I lost. Obviously, he is playing some of the best tennis of his whole life. I was watching many of his matches and he was playing absolutely great.”
The World No. 27 won his first ATP title in 2017 in Marrakesh, coming back from a set down to defeat Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets after saving five championship points.
