Once confirmed his formidable growth after beating Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals, in a match that has all the traces of becoming the classic of the new times, Jannik Sinner had to endorse his performance in his second final of a Masters 1000, two years after losing to Hubert Hurkacz in this same tournament in Miami.

If against the Spaniard he needed to get the best of himself to impose himself after three hours, this time the task was not going to be easy either. In front of him was Daniil Medvedev, a player of maximum reliability on hard court, who had won 23 of the last 24 matches, with the titles of Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai and the final in Indian Wells, where he suffered, against Alcaraz, his only defeat.

The Russian chloroformed against Sinner's weakened momentum and defeated him 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 34 minutes to claim his fourth title of the season and fifth Masters 1000 title of his career. Medvedev is a singular player, who, from heterodoxy, has managed to win a Grand Slam title and go through the number 1 in the world. He knows how to dirty the matches, make his opponents play badly by creating discomfort. So he proved it again against a weakened Sinner, who required medical attention after the seventh game.

Distorted Sinner

Either because of these problems or because of the characteristics of his opponent, who had a 5-0 in the previous balance of their confrontations, the truth is that the Italian had little to do with the man who stopped Alcaraz. He held in the first set, but at no time did he have the rule of a party. He neither played nor subtracted as he did against Alcaraz, accumulating a string of unforced errors. At 21, and again in the top 10, he has an excellent future, but he still hopes to certify a high-ranking title.

"It was probably the hottest and wettest day. He hadn't won a major title in almost a year and a half. Here I played very good matches and I am very happy," Medvedev said after his victory. "It's been a long journey," he added after winning his first Masters 1000 from Canada in August 2021.

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  • Carlos Alcaraz