Teenager Borna Coric Stuns Murray at Dubai Tennis Championships

Teenager Borna Coric produced a performance beyond his years to shock world No 3 Andy Murray 6-1 6-3 at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday.

At 84 in the world, Coric, 18yrs, is the youngest player in the top 100, and after beating Rafael Nadal at the Swiss Open last October, he achieved arguably an even greater feat by defeating Murray with a composed, professional display to reach his second tour semi-final.

Afterwards Murray praised Coric's performance, admitting that his slow start to the match had ultimately cost him.

"He didn't make many errors," Murray told the official ATP website. "He played very solid and he moved well."

"I made way too many mistakes from the beginning of the match right through to the end, early in rallies, rushing points. (It was) quite similar to the match I played against (Gilles) Simon in Rotterdam, which is disappointing."

"It's one of the biggest wins of my life," said a half-disbelieving Coric. "I had no game plan because he doesn't have any weak spots. I was just trying to maintain the level and stay in the rally as long as I could. I was doing good and I was also running very good. That was some of the game plan!"

"I am still struggling with the best players when they play well, and Andy was not at his best today."

The teenager's reward for claiming Murray's scalp is a semi-final match against Roger Federer, providing the world No 2 can successfully overcome Richard Gasquet later.