Stefanos Tsitsipas and Borna Coric will be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers and for the third time this season when they battle for a spot in the Mifel Tennis Open final on Friday night.
Coric owned the matchup in 2022, triumphing in the Cincinnati Masters championship match before winning in a third-set tiebreaker on the indoor hard courts of Vienna. However, Tsitsipas has turned the tide in 2023. The Greek got the job done 6-0, 6-7(4), 7-5 at the United Cup and 6-3, 6-4 at the Rome Masters. The overall head-to-head series is tied up at 3-3, which includes a miracle comeback by Coric en route to a 6-7(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) at the 2020 U.S. Open.
A marathon day of quarterfinal competition saw Coric get off the court at 3:02 am on Friday morning following a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Ilya Ivashka. Even though tonight’s showdown won’t start before 9:00 pm, recovery won’t be easy for the 16th-ranked Croat.
Part of the reason why Coric did not start his match against Ivashka until after 1:00 am was because Tsitsipas needed two hours and 57 minutes to scrape past Nicolas Jarry 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-2. The top seed ousted John Isner 6-2, 6-4 earlier in the week.
This should be another good one between these familiar foes, but Tsitsipas has enjoyed the edge of late and he obviously has a rest advantage.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 3
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Tsitsipas should beat DeMinaur shouldn’t he.
Fritz in 3
Dan Evans looks tough to beat.