Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev secured his fourth title of the season with a win against Jannik Sinner in the Miami Open final on Sunday. The former world number one defeated the Italian up-and-comer 7-5, 6-3 in 94 minutes of play, making it his fifth consecutive final since February. The victory was Medvedev’s first Miami Open trophy, lifting him to a position to which he succeeded Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
Medvedev has been unstoppable in the past few months, winning 24 of his last 25 matches. His only defeat came in the final of last year’s Indian Wells Masters 1000 against Carlos Alcaraz. With his Miami win, he has added another coveted trophy to his already impressive collection. In addition to his Miami win, Medvedev also won in Rotterdam, Doha, and Dubai this year.
Known for his hard-court tennis skills, Medvedev has won 18 of his 19 ATP trophies on that surface. After winning his first Miami crown, he couldn’t help but take a last dig at the Indian Wells organization. He criticized the court for being too slow and said, “This is a really tough court. It made me very happy to play here. If it was my choice, there would only be hard courts, but I fully understand that’s not fair.”
Medvedev’s opponent, Jannik Sinner, ranked eleventh, came into the final with confidence at an all-time high. He had just won a memorable semi-final against Alcaraz. The Italian ruined the Spanish prodigy’s plans to sign a historic double of Masters 1000 triumphs and retain the ATP number one. However, Sinner couldn’t keep up with Medvedev’s form in the final and lost his second Masters 1000 final after the one he lost to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz on the same stage in 2021.
Sinner was feeling sick and lacked energy in the final, which he attributed to his physical condition. “This morning I didn’t wake up in my best shape, I was feeling a little sick. I wasn’t bad enough to retire. But with the heat, when you run a lot, it gets worse and worse,” he explained at the press conference.
Despite his condition, he praised Medvedev’s performance, saying, “He served unbelievable, and he was very brave today. He’s obviously one of the best players in the world.”
Medvedev dominated the game with his combination of ferocious serving and relentless defense from the outset. He won the first set, which was evenly matched and had exchanges of up to 26 shots, in which Sinner even broke first for a 2-3 lead. However, Medvedev did not let his rival escape and quickly returned the break to finish the set just in time to avoid the tiebreak.
Sinner, who had already played a three-hour battle against Alcaraz, was running out of energy and tried to revive himself with a pill provided by the doctor. However, after losing his first two service games, he surrendered the second set, melted under the exhausting heat and humidity of midday in Miami.
Medvedev, who had already beaten Sinner in their five previous meetings, admitted, “Everybody enjoyed the semifinal against Carlos. It was unbelievable.
I was probably a little bit lucky because I was already in bed watching you run all over the place. It’s not easy to recover after a match like that.”
Medvedev’s win in Miami comes after a very disappointing 2022 season following his first Grand Slam title (US Open 2021). After stumbling in the third round of the Australian Open.
