AP, Basel :
Teenager Borna Coric upset second-seeded Rafael Nadal in straight sets Friday to reach the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors and announce himself as one of the rising stars of tennis. There was no such slip-up for Roger Federer as the top-seeded Swiss remained on course for his sixth title in Basel after beating fifth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Nadal, who announced after the match he will have season-ending appendicitis surgery and was playing just his third tournament since Wimbledon due to a wrist injury, looked nowhere near his best while Coric was in sparkling form to win 6-2, 7-6 (4).
“It was difficult in the whole match, in the whole tournament,” Nadal said. “Every day I felt more tired, I tried to practice, to get fit but it was not possible. The past four, five months have been very tough for me. It’s been difficult to play and compete.”
It took the 17-year-old Croatian just 35 minutes to take the opening set, after storming into a 5-0 lead to stun the crowd.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Coric said. “I’m so proud of myself and I hope I can play the same game tomorrow.
“There was pressure but I didn’t have anything to lose, because if I lose I lost to the No. 1 in the world. I never played against him so I didn’t know what would happen, whether he would kill me or not.”
Nadal, who made 19 unforced errors in the first set, rallied briefly and broke Coric’s serve before holding to love. The Spaniard recovered somewhat in the second set, but Coric – ranked 124th in the world – matched his illustrious opponent shot for shot during some long rallies that had the crowd cheering in delight.
Both saved a break point apiece to force the set into a tiebreaker. Coric racked up two match points but needed just one to seal the greatest win of his short career.
