On Sunday, world No. 152 Borna Coric will face world No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. This is the first time these two have faced one another since Tsitsipas’ epic meltdown in five sets at the 2020 US Open. That match saw Tsitsipas yelling at his dad at the top of his lungs, with the Greek superstar blowing six match points and a two-set-to-one lead. That result has to give Coric some element of mental confidence, despite the lopsided rankings disparity.
Another thing that helps Coric in the headspace department is that Tsitsipas had to play a match against world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals. Those two have a well-documented history with one another, with the Russian having spoken up against Tsitsipas when the Greek player pulled his between-set bathroom antics. Tsitsipas was very obviously invested in that last match, and he looked more excited than usual when it was all over. With that said, it’ll be interesting to see if he can find the same level of focus in this spot. We have done well attacking players in letdown situations with The Pick, and that’s part of the reason we are looking to back Coric here.
