ATP roundup: Federer one win from 100th title

[March 02, 2019]  Roger Federer is on the verge of a major milestone.

The second-seeded Swiss star routed sixth-seeded Borna Coric of Croatia 6-2, 6-2 in a semifinal match on Friday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates, leaving him one victory away from his 100th career ATP Tour title.

Only Jimmy Connors, with 109, has more men's singles championships in the Open era (since 1968, when pros were allowed to enter all events).

Standing in Federer's way in Saturday's final is Stefanos Tsitsipas. The fifth-seeded Greek edged France's Gael Monfils 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in the other semifinal.

In the only career meeting between Tsitsipas, 20, and Federer, 37, Tsitsipas emerged with a 6-7 (11), 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (5) win this year in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Tsitsipas also won the tournament in Marseille, France, last week for his second career title.

Brasil Open

One week after Serbia's Laslo Djere and Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime met in the title match at Rio de Janeiro, Djere defeated Auger-Aliassime, this time in a quarterfinal match at Sao Paulo, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Djere, looking for the second ATP Tour title of his career, next faces third-seeded Guido Pella. In an all-Argentinian quarterfinal, Pella topped Marco Trungelliti 6-0, 6-3.

The other semifinal will feature Norway's Casper Ruud against Chile's Christian Garin. Ruud cruised past Bolivia's Hugo Dellien 6-1, 6-1, and Garin upset fourth-seeded Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Switzerland's Roger Federer celebrates after winning his semi final match against Croatia's Borna Coric REUTERS/Ahmed Jadalla

Mexican Open

Second-seeded Alexander Zverev rolled into the final at Acapulco with a 7-6 (0), 6-3 win over Great Britain's Cameron Norrie.

After capturing the one-sided tiebreaker, Zverev recorded the only service break of the second set for a 2-0 lead, then served out the match.

Zverev's final-round opponent will be Australia's Nick Kyrgios, who upset third-seeded John Isner of the United States 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7).

Neither Kyrgios or Isner had a break point in the final set, and Kyrgios ultimately prevailed in his third match point of the tiebreaker. Kyrgios finished with 25 aces and one double fault while Isner had 24 aces and six double faults.

--Field Level Media

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