Stefanos Tsitsipas produced his most accomplished performance of the week at the expense of Borna Coric to reach the Los Cabos Open final.
In just 71 minutes, Tsitsipas raced to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Coric, shaking off any demons that seemed to engulf him while playing the Croat on hard courts. At the start of the season, Coric led their ATP head-to-head 3-1, but Tsitsipas has now turned the tables and leads 4-3, beating Coric three times in a row this year.
His latest display might be the best one yet, as he played with composure, patience, and an attacking mindset. Coric's tactics of pinning Tsitsipas in the backhand corner didn't quite work as anticipated. Tsitsipas, who previously defeated Nicolas Jarry, was able to mix it up with regular use of the drop shot and sliced quite a lot to keep the ball as low as possible. His serve was impregnable throughout.
In the first set, Tsitsipas quickly exerted pressure on Coric, who was so tired in his last match he forgot he won, with a wonderful drop shot to manufacture the first break point. Although the Croat saved it, he was broken in his very next service game. The Greek established a 40-0 lead and took his chance on the second attempt.
Tsitsipas consolidated to love for a 5-2 lead, and moments later, he had the first set 6-3 in the bag. Tsitsipas dropped just three points behind his first serve and never faced a break point. Coric, by contrast, was barely winning any return points.
Despite going one set down, Coric's powers of recovery in this matchup were not to be written off. He'd beaten Tsitsipas from this position twice before on hard courts.
But Tsitsipas didn't let that play on the back of his head and broke Coric to love with some excellent combination of shots compounded by Coric's passive play at the start of the second set. The top seed would extend his lead with an insurance break, again to love, as Coric's serve malfunctioned badly.
Tsitsipas held to love three times in that second set to race into his third final of the season. The Greek star finished that set, winning 92% of first-serve points and won all five points behind his second serve. He'll meet Alex de Minaur in the championship match on Saturday night, as he inches closer to ending his title drought.
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