Croatia Wins Hopman Cup for Second Time in its History with Borna Coric and Donna Vekic

Mathieu Warnier, Media365, published on Sunday July 23, 2023 at 9:25 p.m.

For the second time in its history, Croatia won the Hopman Cup thanks to Borna Coric and Donna Vekic in the final played this Sunday in Nice against defending champion Switzerland.

Four years later, Switzerland failed to retain the Hopman Cup. While Belinda Bencic and Roger Federer had won the last edition of the competition disputed in Perth, Leandro Riedi and Céline Naef could not face the Croatian team. On the clay courts of the Nice Lawn Tennis Club, Donna Vekic set the tone during the first single. A meeting that first saw Céline Naef break in the third game, but the Croatian immediately erased this late service game. The Swiss came very close to regaining control on the scoreboard but, after saving this break point, the 2nd in the world replied by taking the service of the Swiss. The first set point was enough for the Croatian. On her way, Donna Vekic had two opportunities to take Céline Naef’s service from the first game of the second set. But, after having failed, she was able to recover to race in the lead. The 157th in the world responded to pick up two games everywhere before standing up to her opponent. Nevertheless, the Swiss gave in at the very last moment. After a white break, Donna Vekic proved intractable and brought the first point to Croatia from the first match point (6-3, 6-4 in 1h28 ‘).

Coric offers the title to Croatia

Borna Coric knew what he had to do. Opposed to Leandro Riedi, the 15th player in the world had to win to put an end to this final. The Croatian put the pressure on the Swiss, who held on by saving two break points from the start. The resistance of the 160th in the world did not last very long. After a tight game, Borna Coric achieved his goal, taking his opponent’s service. From then on, the first round was absolutely one-sided. Converting his next two break points and being intractable on serve, the Croatian pocketed the set in 31 short minutes. More than ever with his back to the wall, Leandro Riedi unleashed his shots at the start of the second set and it paid off. As he pocketed his first white service game, the Swiss converted two of his four break points to quickly lead three games to nothing. Caught up in speed, Borna Coric offered a first response by erasing one of his two white delay service games. The Croatian then finished the encounter with a cannonball. Winning the last four games including two on Leandro Riedi’s serve, he put an end to the suspense (6-1, 6-4 in 1h22′). 27 years after Iva Majoli and Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia wins the Hopman Cup for the second time in its history.

2023-07-23 19:35:40
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