Borna Coric concedes he hasn't fulfilled expectations he showed reaching a career-high rank of No. 33 in July of 2015.
The 50th-ranked Croatian believes he's a better player now than he was then.
More: Nadal Launches Centre in Mexico
The 21-year-old Coric, who toppled fifth-seeded Richard Gasquet, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the Dubai second round today, says in retrospect his early rapid rise may have stalled his development.
"I have not developed the way I expected to," Coric told the media in Dubai where he lives. "I’m a much better player now than when I was then. If I look at myself three years ago, when I was No. 33 in the world, it’s just not realistic. I was not there. It was actually not a very good thing for me to happen because I stopped working on some things. I got stuck. I didn’t play so well."
The former junior world No. 1, who underwent knee surgery in September of 2016, said injury-induced inactivity also deterred his progress.
“I got some injuries. I had surgery on my knee and I couldn’t finish the (2016) year," Coric said. "That stopped me, as well, for sure. But this is tennis, that’s the life. In general, I think basically I just stopped working on my game, on certain things, and I was not improving."
The former junior world No. 1, who owns career wins over Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev, will play 46th-ranked Frenchman Benoit Paire in the Dubai second round.
Photo credit: Miami Open Facebook