Borna Ćorić and Caroline Garcia both make history with title wins at the Cincinnati Masters
By Matias Grez, CNN
Borna Ćorić and Caroline Garcia both earned historic titles with victories in their respective finals at the Cincinnati Masters on Sunday.
Croatian Ćorić, the world No. 152, became the lowest ranked player to win a Masters 1000 title after beating fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 6-2.
Victory earned Ćorić the first Masters 1000 title of his career — he lost his only previous Masters 1000 final to Novak Djokovic in 2018 — and marked a triumphant return after a difficult year.
Previously ranked as high as 12th in the world, Ćorić missed much of 2021 with a shoulder injury and dropped down the rankings, but will now leap up to world No. 29 thanks to his win.
The 25-year-old was certainly made to earn his title, too, having to overcome Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Cameron Norrie en route to the final.
“Thank you to my parents, who are not here, my sister and my team,” Ćorić said in his on court interview, per ATP. “It has been very tough for us.
“With my physio, if I didn’t have him, I wouldn’t be on the court. Then, of course, to my tennis coach, Mate. We have been working very hard and now we are here.”
READ: Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina on a ‘mission’ to help war-torn country
In the women’s final, Garcia became the first qualifier to win a WTA 1000 title thanks to her 6-2 6-4 victory over two-time grand slam champion Petra Kvitova.
After battling through qualifying, Garcia then had to beat Maria Sakkari, Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula — all ranked in the world’s top 10 — to reach the final.
Victory in Cincinnati is the third WTA 1000 title of Garcia’s career — and 10th overall — and the win pushes her up from 35th in the world to No. 17.
“Pure joy … just happiness,” Garcia told reporters, per the WTA. “Every single win is very important. Every title is very special, 250, 1000, it’s always very hard to describe it. It’s not happening so often and you have to really enjoy it.
“I’m really grateful for this great week of tennis, and to win another title, it’s very special. Every match, every day was a new day, new challenge. Every time I had to be focused on myself, on my game, what can I do, how I can be more aggressive, how can I improve.
“Just one day at a time I ended up here today in the final and now lifting the trophy.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
