ATP Dubai: Roger Federer destroys Borna Coric to set Tsitsipas clash
The seven-time Dubai champion Roger Federer is through to the tenth final at one of his favorite tournaments following a commanding 6-2, 6-2 win over Borna Coric in an hour and seven minutes. Borna won the previous two encounters against Roger in Halle and Shanghai last year although he stood no chance today, just like four years ago in the semi-final here when he won three games in the first clash against Federer. The Swiss struggled to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, Fernando Verdasco and Marton Fucsovics in the previous round, fixing that today with a stellar performance, dropping 11 points on serve and never facing a break point.
The seven-time champion fired 21 winners and 13 unforced errors while Borna stood on a negative 11-14 ratio, never finding his rhythm and suffering four breaks after giving away half of the points behind the initial shot. Roger drew first blood in the third game after a forehand error from Borna, setting the tone for the rest of the match and moving 4-1 up after forcing a volley mistake from Coric at the net. The Croat saved two set points at 1-5 and that was all we saw from him in the opener, as Roger sealed it in the eighth game with a service winner after just 32 minutes.
With nothing left in the tank after three previous matches that he had to win in the deciding tie break, Coric got broken at the start of the second set as well after sending a forehand long, falling 5-2 down after a loose forehand in game seven. Serving for the triumph, Federer blasted four winners in the following game to advance into his 152nd ATP final and get the opportunity to avenge the fourth round Australian Open loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas and become only the second player in the Open era with 100 ATP titles after Jimmy Connors.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2T9Uv6t
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