Sinner stuns Medvedev, losing just three games in Miami Open semi-final
Jannik Sinner put on a brilliant display in the Miami Open semi-finals, defeating defending champion Daniil Medvedev for the loss of just three games
Jannik Sinner, Miami 2024 | © Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
World No 3 Jannik Sinner put on a clinic in the Miami Open semi-finals, dispatching third seed Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour to make the final of the Masters 1000 event.
It was a display that put the tennis world on notice, with Sinner reaching new levels of brilliance in his 21st victory of the 2024 season from 22 matches.
Heading into the contest, all signs were pointing towards a tight contest. The previous four matches between these two had gone down to the wire, with Sinner most recently coming back from two sets to love down against Medvedev in the Australian Open final.
Today’s match was nothing of the sort, with Sinner handing Medvedev his worst-equal Masters 1000 defeat and the Russian only managing three games across the one hour, nine minute encounter.
“I’m very happy about today’s performance, I think Daniil didn’t feel too well today,” shared Sinner after the match. “He made a lot of mistakes he usually doesn’t make. I just took the chance. I was expecting a really tough match.”
Sinner superb, Medvedev helpless
Early on, it was clear Sinner had come to play. The Italian generated three break points in Medvedev’s opening service game. While the Russian deflected the opening two, he fell to a brilliant Sinner forehand on the third.
Medvedev got two break points of his own in the next service game, but was unable to capitalise. From here, it was all Sinner. At one stage, the world No 3 won 10 straight points, sealing the first set and going up a break in the second.
The match could have been worse, with Sinner two points away from handing Medvedev a double bread stick, which would have been his worst-ever defeat at this level, surpassing his 6-0, 6-3 loss to Rafael Nadal in the Canadian Open final in 2019.
Someone must have let Medvedev know what was on the line, however, as he knuckled in and at least held his serve, pushing the second set to an eighth game.
What went wrong for Medvedev?
So why was the world No 4 only able to win 38 percent of points, in a match up where the past three clashes have gone to a deciding set?
A quick look at the statistics reveals the discrepancy between the pair – Medvedev was consistently spraying unforced errors, while Sinner was making winners with metronomic regularity. The result was a hugely one-sided match.
Part of the issue was Medvedev attempting to take a more aggressive position in the court, standing up closer to the baseline for the return of serve and in rallies. While this generated great success in their most recent meeting at the Australian Open, it was far less fruitful today. This combined with three other trends in the match:
- Sinner returned with fantastic depth
- Medvedev was unable to finish off rallies
- Sinner served excellently
The combination of these three factors was a deadly one. When Medvedev did make a first serve, it would often come rocketing back at his feet. Sinner wound up winning almost as many of Medvedev’s first serve points as he did, claiming 15 of the 32 points.
When Medvedev did get himself in a dominant position in rallies, he’d all too often feel pressure to go for an exceptional shot to end the exchange, leading to an unforced error. Combine this with some typically strong serving from Sinner (seven aces, 80 percent of first serve points won) and the result was Medvedev struggling to win three games.
Next up, Sinner faces either Alexander Zverev or Grigor Dimitrov in the Miami Open final as he seeks to go one step further than last year and win the title. The pair will play later today in the second men’s semi-final.
For Sinner, he’s embracing the growth he’s made since first appearing in the Miami Open final three years ago.
“Different player, different person,” he explained, referring to the final he played against Hubert Hurkacz in 2021. “Sometimes, you know I think back and I remember the night before the final. I couldn’t sleep, I was sweating during the night and now I handle the situation much, much better. I’m just excited and happy to be back. Hopefully I can play some good tennis Sunday.
“For me it’s an important tournament. If I can get it good, great. If not, I had another great chance and yeah, for me it’s just a great experience.”
