Victor Estrella Burgos is 34, and Borna Coric is 17, making for the largest gap between male opponents in US Open history — and the ol’ guy won.
And their ages weren’t the only discrepancy on Thursday: The 5-foot-8 Estrella Burgos had to stretch his arms when he reached up to console the 6-foot-1 Coric at the net after winning 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to get to the third round at Flushing Meadows.
“Age is just a number,” said the 80th-ranked Estrella Burgos, the first player from the Dominican Republic to reach the ATP’s top 100. “For me, it never is a factor. I knew about his age, and that I was playing someone who has a bright future ahead of him, but I never thought that I have to beat him because he was younger than me or that he will just fail by just being younger.”
Two days after playing on Court 6 and earning his first victory in a Grand Slam match by defeating Igor Sisling of the Netherlands, Estrella Burgos returned to the same spot and heard the same sort of overwhelming support from the capacity crowd of 1,148. Their nonstop singing of “Victor, Victor” was not a surprise, considering the large Dominican population living in New York and those who came from that country to watch their man play.