Coric proves to be Murray's kryptonite as lucky loser

Gen. George Patton famously said, “There’s no such thing as luck, merely opportunity meeting preparedness.”

Borna Coric appears to have taken that message to heart.

For the second time in his young career, the Croat has faced Andy Murray in a tournament as a lucky loser, this time at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid. And for the second time, the Croat emerged as the victor.

The 20-year-old shocked the world No. 1 in the third round, 6-3, 6-3. Coric broke Murray’s serve three times in the first set, and in the second, he broke at 5-3 to serve out the match.

Coric, who lost in the second round of qualifying to Mikhail Kukushkin, got into the main draw when Richard Gasquet withdrew. But playing Murray with the “LL” in front of his name on the draw sheet appears to instill confidence in Coric.

Back in 2015, Coric won their quarterfinal match in Dubai, again from the fortuitous lucky loser position, and again, singlehandedly, 6-1, 6-3. In doing so, he became the youngest Dubai semifinalist ever at 18.

Coric is doing his part to return, and do better, than his career-high ranking of No. 33.  The world No. 59 has had a solid clay-court season so far, winning his first career singles title in Marrakech last month.