Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner will hope it’s third time lucky in Miami come Sunday, when he contests another final after producing a clinical showing to outclass Daniil Medvedev, inflicting his joint-worst career defeat in their semi-final. The Italian will now play an in-form Grigor Dimitrov, who overcame Olympic champion Alexander Zverev in three pulsating sets of tennis overnight.
Sinner supreme as Medvedev beaten easily
Sinner [2] bt. Medvedev [3] 6-1, 6-2
- Sinner tells Tennis Channel: “Today was one of my best matches, how I handled everything… for sure next time I have to be ready for many things, it’s a great feeling but Sunday’s a difficult day for me, a third final here and hopefully a good day. I’m excited, let’s see what is coming.”
- Italian won 80% of his total first serve points played, hit seven aces, 16 winners and 12 unforced errors as Medvedev just couldn’t get going
- Victorious in previous two H2H meetings against upcoming final opponent in Paris Masters runner-up Grigor Dimitrov, both over the last year (Miami, Beijing), win on Sunday will see him surpass Carlos Alcaraz for world no. 2
IF any single action would foreshadow what quickly proved an early day’s work for Jannik Sinner, it was the 114mph angled ace he produced in the match’s very first point to start proceedings against former world no. 1 and 2021 US Open titlist Daniil Medvedev. Before much longer, the Russian cut a perplexed figure.
Sinner kept painting the baseline with his groundstrokes, forcing him to be overly defensive when he didn’t want to, and the scoreline quickly faded away from him at the same time – being forced wide, tangled into a circle as he saved two break points but nonetheless relinquished the early initiative.
Looking longingly at his player box and venting frustrations to coach Gilles Cervara as his wife Daria also watched on, Medvedev consciously hit his groundstrokes harder during their rally exchanges though it had the opposite effect.
Sinner was naturally unfazed, counterpunching at will and making him second guess shot directions: you veer to the right, I’ll crunch it the other way.
Being pulled from corner-to-corner, hustling for balls and not being given a chance to breathe on serve, it was 4-0 in 25 minutes despite Medvedev saving three more break points in the previous game. There was just never any let-up.
The onslaught continued and you could hear the crowd’s surprise at times when Sinner missed a shot, such was his consistently high levels here.
No dip in sight, Medvedev didn’t have a foothold to build on from the start nor a wobble to profit from midway through a memorable semifinal victory for an in-form player bursting with confidence. Darren Cahill’s declaration for his pupil at the end of last season hasn’t just already proven true, he’s exceeding expectations.
The 22-year-old conceded just three games in 69 minutes to record a fifth straight H2H victory over Medvedev, this one perhaps expected to be a three-set thriller after their Melbourne final matchup in January went the distance. It was anything but.
Grigor does great to get back in top ten
Dimitrov [13] bt. Zverev [4] 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4
- Guess who’s back? Dimitrov rises above Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alex de Minaur and Hubert Hurkacz to world no. 9, having begun the Masters 1000 tournament as the 13th seed. Victory this weekend will see him rise to #7
- Bulgarian has now beaten top-five opponents in consecutive matches at a tournament for the second time in his career (Brisbane, 2017), having skilfully outplayed defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 6-4 in the QFs
- After six years without a Masters 1000 final since Cincinnati title, 32-year-old into his second M1000 event in five months, having reached the showpiece event in Paris before losing to Novak Djokovic last year
AFTER 260 weeks – a week shy of five full years – Grigor Dimitrov punched his ticket back into the world’s top 10 the hard way, absorbing an Alexander Zverev surge and riding the wave with composure to prevail in three sets against an Olympic champion he last beat a decade ago in Switzerland, when the German was still just 17.
It felt inevitable the Bulgarian veteran would eventually find success in another big event, such has been the refreshingly consistent play we’ve come to expect from him over the past 12-18 months. Yet it’s his underrated athleticism, elegant touch and more aggressive groundstrokes that speak for themselves.
If paralysed by nerves when the opportunity to return into the hallowed top-10 arose against Medvedev at Indian Wells, there were no such fears here.
After all, he had just made Alcaraz feel like a 13-year-old child again by the Spaniard’s own press conference admission and it’s easy to see why he – just like Sinner – can confound opponents with the tactics they routinely execute.
This proved a closely-contested clash many were expecting from the first semifinal, scoreline reinforcing that notion, on an evening to celebrate variation and a beautiful one-handed backhand as it peppered past Zverev almost at will sometimes.
The fourth seed didn’t do much wrong over the course of a fast-paced set one but found himself behind after a loose service game, as beautiful touch at the net down 30-0 set the wheels in motion for an unexpected momentum shift.
A trio of Zverev errors later, the Bulgarian jogged over to his chair with a set advantage banked in his pocket.
Zverev’s booming first serves were an ever-present theme here but Dimitrov’s power off both wings, as well as his own serve placement, caught many by surprise.
He’d already logged ten aces en route to leading 4-3 after another big hold – an overused phrase but one apt for this scenario – as they continued battling for free points and Zverev became increasingly animated.
He knew time was running out, the crowd were pro-Dimitrov and the 32-year-old’s level wasn’t dropping soon either. No problem then, just crank up yours a few notches and match that level of intensity, right? Easier said than done, not least under increasing pressure and having fluffed a few half-chance openings.
Zverev did well, down 0-30, to claw back and level the scores at five games apiece in set two. He didn’t do it in the opener and that proved costly, but here the German showed his teeth to force a breaker after absorbing some powerful shots and holding his nerve, regrouping with timely big serves after loose errors.
Rally balls leaking from the forehand side foreshadowed the finish, but it still felt like there was more action left so the younger man duly obliged soon enough.
Dimitrov sliced the ball well but Zverev executed better in the tiebreak, creating such a wide scoreline margin that he could serve his first double-fault of the tournament – yes, you read right – and still win with set points to spare.
The deciding set was packed with more tension, Dimitrov showing great improvisation and recovery at the net to break first as Zverev’s forehand started flagging again with shots like these feeling very decisive in the moment:
Zverev did well to hold under duress but by this stage, the damage was irreversible. His only hope was for a nervy Dimitrov service game when asked to serve it out for a chance at championship gold on Sunday, but there were no such worries. An errant forehand flew wide and Dimitrov clinched a sweet victory in two hours 36 minutes.
This fortnight will have done wonders for his confidence and now, it’s on final boss Sinner to ruthlessly extinguish all that.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via Tennis Channel broadcast
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