Since defeating Sinner in the Rotterdam final in February, Medvedev is now 6-0 against Sinner in their head to heads.
Follow Us
Daniil Medvedev, who was competing in his fifth ATP Tour final in as many competitions, kept up his impressive form to win the Miami Open presented by Itau. With a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Jannik Sinner, Medvedev increased his record to 24-1 over his previous five competitions, which have resulted in four victories. The fourth seed was unflappable against Sinner, frustrating the Italian with his thoughtful baseline game after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final two weeks prior. Since defeating Sinner in the Rotterdam final in February, Medvedev is now 6-0 against Sinner in their head to heads.
On hard courts, Medvedev has now won five of the six ATP Masters 1000 events and advanced to the final in the sixth (Indian Wells). In addition, the 27-year-old has competed in both hard-court Grand Slam finals, winning the 2021 US Open. His success on hard courts carried over to the Nitto ATP Finals, where he took home the 2020 championship. The four tour-level championships Medvedev has won this season match his career-best total from both 2019 and 2021, giving him a good chance to surpass that mark.
“I’m really happy. Today was a tough match. It was probably the hottest day and the most humid during the day,” Medvedev said. “It was not easy conditions. I don’t know if Jannik had a small injury or cramp. I was also struggling, tried not to show it.”
“I haven’t won’t such a big title in probably a year and a half,” he added. “At the end I was quite shaky. Not even tight, because I’m not scared to win. But still the hands get a little shaky so the serve is a little bit tougher… I managed to get myself together and close the match.”
As it happened
Sinner got off to a strong start and took the lead by finishing a gruelling match with a challenging drop volley, but Medvedev responded by displaying his range from the baseline and forcing errors from the Italian. While Medvedev used his range to keep Sinner behind the baseline while Sinner had success attacking early, the 10th seed was eventually worn down by Medvedev’s consistency and well-timed aggression.
With a four-game run from 5-5 in the first set, Medvedev took control of the match by fully capitalising on Sinner’s errant groundstrokes. Sinner mustered the strength to break back for 1-2 despite looking physically exhausted following his thrilling semifinal victory over Alcaraz, only to have Medvedev re-establish his lead at 3-1. After Sinner generated five break points in the fifth game of set one, the fourth seed did not face a break point the rest of the match, and Medvedev easily served his way to victory as he completed the victory in one hour and 34 minutes.
With the win, Medvedev now has a 600-point advantage over Novak Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin, giving him the upper hand in the competition for the No. 1 ranking at the end of the year.
