Borna Coric had a very good two weeks in Madrid, reaching the fourth Masters 1000 semifinal of his career—and first on clay—before falling to the eventual champion, Carlos Alcaraz.
And today in Rome he kept the wins coming, battling back from a set down—and even fighting off a match point down 7-6 in the second set tie-break—to edge Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro in his opening match in the Italian capital, 4-6, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5).
And it was a major milestone: the 200th win of his career.
Coric is the eighth man born in 1995 or later to reach that number.
MEN BORN IN 1995 OR LATER WITH 200+ CAREER WINS (tour-level):
351: Alexander Zverev [going for 352 today]
300: Daniil Medvedev [going for 301 today]
272: Stefanos Tsitsipas [going for 273 today]
260: Andrey Rublev
229: Karen Khachanov
205: Nick Kyrgios
204: Taylor Fritz [going for 205 today]
200: Borna Coric
Up next for the No. 15-seeded Croat after his three-hour, 32-minute victory will be unseeded Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena, who had an even tougher battle in his second-round match, outlasting No. 20-seeded Dan Evans, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4, after three hours and 46 minutes.