ZADAR, Croatia — Borna Coric pulled off a through-the-legs lob shot winner that drew bows from the crowd en route to giving Croatia a 1-0 lead over the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals Friday.
Early in the third set of a 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over Steve Johnson, Coric ran down a lob from Johnson and replied with a shot known as a “tweener” that flew over the head of his 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) opponent and landed within inches of the baseline.
The 21-year-old Coric, considered one of the top up-and-coming players in the game, said he had never before even come close to landing such a shot.
“I normally go somehow around my back,” he said. “But I just felt that I can do it. It was not such an important point, so I just did it. Honestly I never do it in practice as well, so I don’t know how it was that good, to be honest. It was really luck.
“I did mean it (to be a lob) but I thought I’m going to miss by a lot,” Coric added. “But I made it.”
Moments earlier, the 18th-ranked Coric had landed a delicate forehand drop-shot winner to close out a close second-set tiebreak.
“He came up with some good stuff today,” Johnson said.
Sixth-ranked Marin Cilic was next facing Davis Cup debutant Frances Tiafoe in the second singles match of the best-of-five series on an outdoor clay court along the Dalmatian coast.
The winner will meet either France or Spain in the final.
___
More AP tennis coverage: https://www.apnews.com/tag/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press