100 titles, or 1 more loss to Tsitsipas? Roger Federer's path unclear

A dialed-in Roger Federer cruised past Borna Coric in the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday night and is now a win away from his milestone 100th career ATP title.

Federer, who had lost his last two meetings against Coric—at Halle and Shanghai last year—was on his game from the beginning, getting the match's first break in the third game and never falling behind. He eventually put the Croat away in just an hour and seven minutes, 6-2, 6-2.

Federer didn’t face a single break point, and broke Coric in four of eight service games.

The Swiss finished the match with 21 winners to just 13 unforced errors, with those winners coming from every wing: six forehand winners, eight backhand winners and seven aces.

“I feel like I was probably the more tired player in our last two matches, and he was the more tired player today,” Federer said of Coric. “He played three matches 7-6 in the third this week, so of course he was going to maybe feel it a little bit. And I think I played well today. I got off to a good start and was able to mix it up well. I think today I was just the better player, like he was the last two times.”

Awaiting Federer in the final will be Stefanos Tsitsipas, who rallied from a 6-4, 3-1 deficit to outlast Gael Monfils, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4). The day's first semifinal lasted two hours and 59 minutes.

“The whole match changed out of nowhere,” Tsitsipas told atptour.com. “I have improved since last year. Beating the big guys, big players, players that have been in the Top 10, means a lot to me.”

By reaching the final, Tsitsipas will break into the Top 10 for the first time in his career, moving from No. 11 to No. 10 when the new rankings are released on Monday (supplanting Marin Cilic).

He will also become the first Greek tennis player, male or female, ever to reach the Top 10.

“I wanted to get there at some point myself, and I made it today,” he added.

“I don’t know, it’s probably a special day for Greece.”

The final will mark the second career meeting between Federer and Tsitsipas, with the Greek winning their first in four sets in the fourth round of this year's Australian Open, 6-7 (11), 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (5).

“I’m looking forward to playing him,” Federer said. “He had a tough match against Monfils tonight and he won last week in Marseille, so he’s had a great couple of weeks. I hope I can play a little bit better than I did in Melbourne, but it’s going to be tough - Stefanos really has the confidence right now.”

Tsitsipas will be going for his third and biggest career title, his first two coming at the 250-level.

Federer, meanwhile, will be going for his milestone 100th career title, which would make him just the second man in the Open Era to win 100 career ATP titles (Jimmy Connors won 109 in his career).

The Swiss will also be going for his eighth title in Dubai, having already won the event in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2014 and 2015. With a win, he would also make Dubai the fourth tournament he’s won eight or more times in his career, after Halle (nine titles), Basel (nine titles) and Wimbledon (eight titles).

ATP/WTA Acapulco

• Alexander Zverev headlines the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Watch live coverage on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Monday, 2/25 at 5:00 pm ET.

ATP Dubai

• Watch Roger Federer live from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship starting Monday, 2/25 at 5:00 am ET

ATP Sao Paulo

• Tennis Channel Plus features live coverage of the Brasil Open beginning Monday, 2/25 at 10:30 am ET