Sinner beware: Dimitrov on fire. Because Jannik has to fear him in the final in Miami

Sinner vs Dimitrov, final at the ATP 1000 in Miami

The ATP 1000 final in Miami? On paper he has a super favorite: Jannik Sinner. With all due respect to Grigor Dimitrov. And it couldn’t be otherwise. World number 3 (two if he wins the tournament in Florida) it’s impressive: 2024 wasn’t enough with 20 wins and 1 defeat (in the semi-final at Indian Wells against Carlos Alcaraz, ‘worst’ result of the season, if I may say so…) he destroyed Daniil Medvedev for the umpteenth time (fifth in a row) in the semifinals (6-1 6-2) and stopping his run seems complicated for anyone.

Sinner wins in Miami over Dimitrov? Bookmakers have no doubts

The bookmakers were clear: Sinner, winner in Miami, is paid on average just over 1.2 (i.e. you bet one euro and win around twenty cents), while the success of the 32-year-old Bulgarian (born in ’91, 33 birthdays in May) is around 4 against 1. Quotations clearly unbalanced in favor of the Italian tennis player. And good logic suggests that Jannik will put in his showcase the second 1000 tournament in his career (after the 2023 Canadian Open), among other things after having already played two finals in Miami (lost in 2021 against Hubert Hurkacz and in 2023 with Medvedev, the Russian’s last victory against Sinner before the current 5-0 partial).

Sinner-Dimitrov, Grigor on fire. Because Jannik has to fear him in the final in Miami

But be careful of Grigor Dimitrov, a tennis player with crystalline talent (10/15 years ago he was considered by many to be the natural heir of Roger Federer), who is experiencing a second youth. Meanwhile, with the results in Miami he returns to the top 10 of the ATP ranking (he brings his one-handed backhand back to the top 10 in the world), he who was number 3 (November 2017) and won the ATP Finals and the Cincinnati Open (also that year), reaching the semifinals of 3 Slams in his career (Wimbledon 2014, Australian Open 2017 and US Open 2019).

Yet it is in this 2024 that he is perhaps expressing the best tennis of his career: 20 victories and 4 defeats in the year (after finishing last year by reaching the final in Paris), lesson to Carlos Alcaraz at the quarterfinals in Miami (“It made me feel like I was 13… It was crazy,” the Spaniard said), then in the semi-final he knocked out Alexander Zverev (after two and a half hours of battle: 6-4, 6(4)-7, 6-4).

You play with class, you have the ability to vary the game and, above all, you are showing off very aggressive, effective tennis, often with your feet well inside the court: a winning mix that not surprisingly brought Dimitrov to the final in Miami and back into the elite of world tennis (he will be 9th or 7th depending on the outcome of the match with Jannik).

Not only. The last direct confrontation between Sinner and Dimitrov (2-1 for the Italian) was in October in the ATP 500 in Beijing: Jannik won but after a tough battle (6-4 3-6 6-2 and with some stomach problems for the South Tyrolean at the beginning of the third set).

In conclusion: Sinner is a complete champion both on a technical and mental level, he has the right weapons to defuse Grigor’s plays, win the final, overcome Alcaraz and place himself at number two in the world behind Novak Djokovic. But watch out for the Bulgarian tennis player…