An all-American showdown between Frances Tiafoe and Brandon Nakashima headlines semifinal Friday at the Acapulco ATP 500. Flavio Cobolli and Miomir Kecmanovic are also aiming for a place in the title match.
(8) Frances Tiafoe vs. Brandon Nakashima
Tiafoe and Nakashima will be facing each other for the eighth time in their careers when they clash in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Friday night. The head-to-head series stands at 6-1 in Tiafoe’s favor (5-1 on the main tour) after he most recently prevailed 6-4, 7-6(3) in the 2025 Houston semis. The 28-year-old has won 12 of their last 16 sets.
Both players are looking good in Acapulco. Nakashima ousted Elias Ymer and Patrick Kypson in straight sets before beating Valentin Vacherot 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarters. Tiafoe fought off a pair of match points in round two against Aleksandar Kovacevic but otherwise cruised past Nuno Borges and Mattia Bellucci. Given the relative equality in form, it’s hard to look past the drastic advantage that Tiafoe has held in this particular matchup.
Pick: Tiafoe in 3
Miomir Kecmanovic vs. (5) Flavio Cobolli
This time last year, Cobolli was in the midst of a nine-match losing streak. In 2026, his January-February skid ended at four matches. The 20th-ranked Italian emerged from his slump with a semifinal showing in Delray Beach and he now finds himself in another semifinal following Acapulco victories over Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, Dalibor Svrcina, and Yibing Wu.
Up next for Cobolli on Friday is a second meeting with Kecmanovic, who dominated their only previous encounter 6-1, 6-2 on the hard courts of Naples in 2022. Similar to his opponent, Kecmanovic had been struggling but has heated up during the second half of this February swing. The 84th-ranked Serb pushed Learner Tien to a third-set tiebreaker in the Delray Beach second round and has been outstanding this week, beating Tristan Schoolkate, Alexander Zverev, and Terence Atmane. Cobolli has not defeated anyone ranked better than 66th this season, and Kecmanovic — even though his ranking does not say it — is certainly playing a top-50 level right now and probably top 30.
Pick: Kecmanovic in 3