Friday's Matches to Watch: Federer-Coric; Monfils-Tsitsipas

*Roger Federer (SUI) - ATP No. 7, UTR No. 5 (15.84)

Borna Coric (CRO) - ATP No. 13, UTR No. 12 (15.56)*

Borna Coric has now squeaked out three consecutive third-set tiebreakers to advance to the semifinals. Heading into this blockbuster meeting with Roger Federer, his confidence should be near his all-time high. Three wins like these show that Borna Coric has nerves of steel.

But will he be able to beat Federer? Not on the lightning quick Dubai court. This court is made for Federer, who has won Dubai seven times. While Federer has lost his last two meetings against Coric, the one time they played in Dubai back in 2015, Federer won, 6-2, 6-1.

Coric has frustrated Federer in past meetings, as few players on tour make things as physical as Coric. The Croatian fights for every single point. The combination of possible Federer nerves mixed with Coric’s supreme confidence should make things interesting, but this is Fed’s tournament to lose. Look for the Swiss Maestro to get some much-needed revenge on the young Croat and compete for his 100th career ATP title.

*Gael Monfils (FRA) - ATP No. 23, UTR No. 10 (15.63)

Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRC) - ATP No. 11, UTR No. 17 (15.46)*

It may be a bit too early to say Gael Monfils is playing the best tennis of his career, but after starting the 2019 season with a 12-2 record, he’s getting close. Correlation does not equal causation, but one could argue that dating Elina Svitolina has helped improve the Frenchman’s focus and overall level of play.

Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas, fresh off his second career ATP title, has to be feeling some sort of fatigue in his legs. This will be his eighth match in nine days, not including doubles. Meanwhile, Monfils withdrew from Marseille, the tournament Tsitsipas just won, giving himself a well-deserved week of rest after his Rotterdam title two weeks ago.

While Monfils will have the fresh legs, Tsitsipas will still have his beautiful tennis brain. Tsitsipas is already one of the games better problem solvers, a huge advantage when playing someone like Monfils. Monfils loves when players try and blast him off the court, as he is able to retrieve shots that no one else in the history of the game could retrieve. When you make Monfils run, and give him targets to hit towards, he plays his absolute best. Tsitsipas will need to vary his style of play to try and fluster the red-hot Monfils.

This is not a match you want to miss, and you should look for Monfils to outlast the slightly fatigued Tsitsipas in two tough sets.

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