The final is set in Cincinnati for the seventh ATP Masters 1000 event of the year! Borna Coric is a surprise finalist after coming in unseeded and ranked world #51. He has been on fire this week, beating four top-20 players in consecutive matches. He has lost just one of the eleven sets he has played here, and that came in his incredible upset over Rafael Nadal. Tsitsipas had a dominant first couple rounds then won two battles to reach the final. He beat John Isner, always a tough opponent on hard courts, in a close three set quarterfinal. He then beat rival Daniil Medvedev in another battle against arguably the best hard court player in the world. It may not have been the expected final but the form of both players is sure to provide an entertaining match.
ATP Cincinnati Final Prediction
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Borna Coric
Head-to-head: 1-1
Coric and Tsitsipas have played twice, though Tsitsipas’ one win came in 2018 via retirement. Coric managed to win a five set thriller at the 2020 US Open where he reached his only major quarterfinal. He reached world #12 at age 21 in 2018 but has been plagued by injuries ever since. Coric reached his lone Masters final in Shanghai in 2018, where he lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic. He looks to have returned to his form not just making the final but doing so against elite players. Tsitsipas is a Masters 1000 champion and five-time finalist, though this is just his second final on hard court and it would be his first title. Beating Medvedev and his performance at this year’s Australian Open shows he has improved his game significantly on hard and would be a worth champion.
Coric has relied on his serve to make it to this point, getting broken just three times in five matches in Cincinnati. He has not been broken more than once in a single match, despite playing strong returners in Nadal, Bautista Agut, and Auger-Aliassime. Tsitsipas has been great on return, securing 11 breaks of serve in four matches. Coric’s performance on serve against Tsitsipas’ return will be the deciding factor in the match. Tsitsipas’ strong ground strokes on both sides will attack Coric’s serve even on a fast hard court. The Greek has a strong enough serve to neutralize the return of Coric and he will surely be able to secure several breaks of his own. Coric has been playing great and won’t go down easily, but Tsitsipas matches up well and his experience will be vital in earning the title.
Prediction: Tsitsipas in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
