MASON, Ohio — Borna Coric spoiled Rafael Nadal‘s return from a six-week layoff, beating the Spanish star 7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-3 on Wednesday night in the Western & Southern Open.
The winner of a men’s record 22 Grand Slam championships, including two this year, hadn’t played since July 6 after an abdominal tear forced him to withdraw from a semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon. He was hoping to start putting the final touches on prepping for the upcoming US Open.
The second-seeded and third-ranked Nadal, 36, showed no signs of the injury that mostly plagued his serve. He reached 121 mph with one serve and needed several awkward body movements to return some of Coric’s shots.
The match lasted 2 hours, 51 minutes, not including a rain delay of 1 hour, 25 minutes in the first set.
In an all-English men’s second-round match, 11th-ranked Cameron Norrie outlasted three-time Grand Slam-champion Andy Murray 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Also, Taylor Fritz beat Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 6-2, and 19-year-old wild-card Ben Shelton upset fifth-ranked Casper Ruud. Shelton is the youngest American to defeat a top-five opponent since Andy Roddick beat No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten in 2001.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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