Coric sets clash with defending champion Baez in Winston-Salem

pWill this be the year a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/borna-coric/cg80/overview'Borna Coric/a emerges victorious at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/winston-salem/6242/overview'Winston-Salem Open/a? The former No. 12 player in the PIF ATP Rankings made a good start towards that goal on Sunday./p

pCoric defeated a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/sumit-nagal/n897/overview'Sumit Nagal/a 6-4, 6-2 in 70 minutes to reach the second round of the ATP 250 event. The Croatian is now 8-3 at the tournament, including a semi-final showing last year./p

pldquo;I like the fast conditions, and obviously, also during the day, it's actually much quicker than when I play at night,rdquo; Coric said in his on-court interview. ldquo;But I like the city as well. It's obviously very calm and before I go to New York, I need some calm, so that's very good.rdquo;/p

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pAfter breaking to open the second set, Coric lost his serve in the next game. But the three-time ATP Tour titlist remained undeterred, claiming 89 per cent of his first-serve points and breaking Nagalrsquo;s serve four times to move on./p

pldquo;I knew obviously I didn't need to panic, because it was still one-all, and I just stayed calm,rdquo; Coric said. ldquo;I was feeling very good on the court today, so I knew I just needed to be patient and my time would come.rdquo;/p

pCoric will next face top seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/sebastian-baez/b0bi/overview'Sebastian Baez/a, who lifted the Winston-Salem trophy last year./p

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pIn the match of the day, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/zizou-bergs/bu13/overview'Zizou Bergs/a clawed past big-serving American wild card a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/reilly-opelka/o522/overview'Reilly Opelka/a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1) in two hours and 20 minutes. The Belgian withstood 14 Opelka aces and saved three of the four break points he faced./p

pldquo;It's great. I came early because I lost early in Cincinnati, so I had some time to explore a little bit,rdquo; Bergs said. The second-round opponent for sixth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tomas-martin-etcheverry/ea24/overview'Tomas Martin Etcheverry/a later added: ldquo;I just got my first match with a nice atmosphere. So it was good, night session is always special and nice to get [a win].rdquo;/p

pIn the top section of the draw, Frenchman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-cazaux/c0h0/overview'Arthur Cazaux/a overcame Dutchman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/botic-van-de-zandschulp/v812/overview'Botic van de Zandschulp/a 6-1, 7-6(3). In a match that was interrupted by heavy rain, Cazaux rallied from a 0-3 deficit in the second set to triumph in the pairrsquo;s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting and set a clash with 16th seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rinky-hijikata/h0bh/overview'Rinky Hijikata/a./p

pAustralian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/aleksandar-vukic/v832/overview'Aleksandar Vukic/a hit 11 aces and converted four of his 15 break points to rally past Briton a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/daniel-evans/e687/overview'Daniel Evans/a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Vukic did not face a break point after the first set according to Infosys ATP Stats and he will next challenge fourth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/adrian-mannarino/me82/overview'Adrian Mannarino/a./p

pHungarian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marton-fucsovics/f724/overview'Marton Fucsovics/a also won a three-setter, battling past Japanrsquo;s a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/taro-daniel/da81/overview'Taro Daniel/a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. He will take on #NextGenATP American a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-michelsen/m0qi/overview'Alex Michelsen/a, who is still in Cincinnati to compete in the ATP Masters 1000 eventrsquo;s doubles final at 1 p.m. Monday alongside a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/mackenzie-mcdonald/mk66/overview'Mackenzie McDonald/a, who is scheduled to play singles later in the evening in Winston-Salem against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/corentin-moutet/mw02/overview'Corentin Moutet/a./p

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