Croatian Coric wins in Cincinnati and is the champion of a Masters 1000 with the lowest ranking

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• Tennis Rafa Nadal returns with defeat in Cincinnati

The Croatian

has defeated the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of

and has become the champion with the

of a tournament in this category.

Coric

, who will jump to 29th place in the rankings, has beaten

(number 7) 7-6 (7/0) and 6-2 in the final of an event that also serves as a prelude to the US Open States, which starts on August 29.

The Croatian, 25 years old and recovered from the shoulder injury that stopped his

, has resurfaced sportingly this week in Cincinnati (Ohio), where he eliminated Rafael Nadal in the second round on the way to his greatest victory on the circuit.

"To be honest, I wasn't ready for this speech five days ago.

," Coric said.

"Thanks to my family and my team, it's been a tough road for us."

No tennis player had ever lifted a

title , a category created in 1990 and only one step below the

starting from a lower position in the ranking than Coric.

The player who held this achievement so far was the Spaniard

, who prevailed in 1996 in Hamburg from 143rd place. "I was training hard, and I knew I could play good tennis, but do it at this level",

With tennis in a state of grace,

has celebrated his third ATP title and first since 2018, when he was considered one of the new jewels on the circuit.

a lasting injury

The upward trajectory of

, who became twelfth in the ATP and runner-up in the Shanghai Masters 1000 in 2018, was slowed down by a

that ended up being operated on in May 2021 and that left him blank for a whole year .

The latest victim of

's dream week was Stefanos Tsitsipas, who came into the final as heavy favorite buoyed by his win on Saturday against Russian Daniil

, world number one.

"You've kicked my ass the last few times,"

told Coric, who beat him in a five-set match at the 2020 US Open, at the trophy presentation. "It's been an amazing comeback from

. You're showing that you're up to our standards."

Tsitsipas

, winner of two Masters 1000 on clay in Monte Carlo, is still unable to succeed in an event of this hierarchy on hard courts like

.

"I still hope to come back here and win one day," he said.

"I've just always run into robots in finals."

"Nothing to lose"

Tsitsipas started the duel ready to impose his greatest experience on the big stages, with a total of

and one Grand Slam, lost in 2021 at Roland Garros against Novak Djokovic, the great absentee in Cincinnati.

Overwhelmed and imprecise,

re-entered the game cold, as in his semi-final against Britain's Cameron Norrie, and soon found himself down 1-4 against Tsitsipas.

But the Croatian slowly got over his nerves and sent the first warning, breaking the Greek's serve to pull within 3-4 as

let three break points slip away in the next game.

"I realized that I had to be more aggressive,"

explained .

Tsitsipas "is an incredible player. I said to myself: 'I have nothing to lose. If I continue like this, I'm going to lose anyway, for sure."

The first set ended in

collapsed, starting with an initial double fault, without scoring a single point.

The Greek felt the blow and, after blowing three break points early in the

, he committed another ill-timed double fault that handed a break and a 4-2 lead to Coric.

Coric

, who has only given up a set this week against Nadal, took advantage of the facilities to also finish the final on the fast track and warn the tennis world that he is back.

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