Russian Daniil Medvedev was proclaimed champion of the Miami tournament this Sunday for the first time in his career by beating Italian Jannik Sinner in the final 7-5, 6-3 after one hour and 34 minutes.
The face to face between these two tennis players is overwhelmingly favorable to Medvedev, who has won all six duels against Sinner and who had already denied him the title in Rotterdam this year.
The one in Miami was the fifth consecutive final for Medvedev and translates into his fourth title of the year after Dubai, Doha and Rotterdam. He thus removes the thorn of having lost in Indian Wells against the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz.
It is the fifth Master 1,000 that Daniil Medvedev has won, more than a year after he lifted the last one at the Canadian Open. He adds them to those of Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris.
Jannik Sinner's game seemed heavily influenced by the wear and tear, physical and psychological, from Friday night's clash with Carlos Alcaraz. Many unforced errors for the Italian, a total of 36 to the 21 for the Russian.
The first two games were very long, each defending their position on their serve. Thus they reached 2-2, without serving errors, with the Russian being more conservative and without excessively abandoning the bottom line, while the Italian did visit the net on several occasions.
The first break was achieved by Sinner in the fifth game, with two double faults by Medvedev with 30-0 in his favor. Two consecutive double faults, which would end up being three, and balls into the net, undermined the Russian's confidence.
Medvedev reacted immediately, winning Sinner's serve for 3-3 and later his service putting himself back up 4-3.
It was an emotional blow to the game. Sinner, also accusing the heat and humidity, came to request medical assistance. Medvedev grew more and more comfortable, securing his shots and learning to deal damage with his serve.
Thus, the final 7-5 was reached, which closed the first set in favor of the Russian in 59 minutes, breaking Sinner's serve for the second time and avoiding a tiebreaker that was already projected on the Hard Rock Stadium court.
The beginning of the second set was very awkward for Sinner. At times he seemed to suffer cramps and showed inaccuracies in his left.
Medvedev hit another break on Sinner to move up 2-0, taking complete control of the match. The Italian's pride appeared slightly in a succession of good returns, recovering the break.
It was fleeting, and despite the fact that the support of the stands was for Sinner, Medvedev's cold blood ended up taking him off the track, winning several games in a row.
Sinner's fight was insufficient to level the match and everything was favorable to Medvedev. His sensations, his confidence and his statistics, with better records during the second set in first serves, 93% in second serves, and more break points.
With 5-3 in favor, Medvedev was 40-0 with three match points in his favor. He missed the first but in the second an error by Sinner, delivering the ball to the net, established the Russian to win in Miami for the first time in his career.
The good performance in Miami means a rise in the ranking for both tennis players. Medvedev rises from fifth to fourth, while Sinner rises from eleventh to ninth.
