First modification:
Miami (AFP) – The Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev, former world number one, defeated the Italian promise Jannik Sinner this Sunday and raised his first Masters 1000 title in Miami, the fourth trophy of his spectacular start to the season.
Medvedev, who currently occupies fifth place in the ranking, beat Sinner (11th) 7-5, 6-3 in his fifth consecutive final of 2023.
The tennis player from Moscow has won 24 of his last 25 matches with a single defeat in the final of the last Masters 1000 in Indian Wells against the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, whom he succeeded this Sunday in the list of champions in Miami.
Master of hard court tennis, Medvedev has won 18 of his 19 ATP titles on that surface and, with his long-awaited first Miami trophy in hand, he could not help but throw a final reproach at the Indian Wells organization, whose court heavily criticized for being too slow.
“Sometimes I know how to control myself when I feel like it’s a real hard court. So thank you very much to whoever makes this decision. It made me very happy to play here,” said Medvedev before lifting his fourth crown of the year after Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai.
On the other side, Sinner reached his second final in Miami with maximum confidence after a memorable semifinal victory against Alcaraz, who ruined his plans to sign a historic double of Masters 1000 victories and keep the ATP number one.
But the Italian, one of the great jewels of the circuit, crashed into a Medvedev in a state of grace and conceded his second defeat in the Masters 1000 finals after the one he was dealt by the Pole Hubert Hurkacz on the same stage in 2021.
“Two years ago I played the final here and I didn’t win. This year neither, but hopefully one year I’ll get it,” said a dejected Sinner.
lack of energy
Medvedev, who has beaten Sinner in all six of their meetings, made the most of the quickness of the Miami court to exploit his combination of fierce serve and relentless defense.
The 27-year-old Russian prevailed in a long and even first set and then exploited that emotional blow against a Sinner who, after his battle of more than three hours against Alcaraz, was too low on energy to come back under the exhausting heat and humidity noon from Miami, Florida.
“This morning I have not woken up in my best shape, I felt a little sick,” he explained. “Unfortunately, today I have not been able to play at my best level.”
“I think everyone enjoyed the semifinal against Carlos. It was incredible,” Medvedev acknowledged. “I was probably a 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.”
The lanky tennis player forged in the mountains of San Cándido, next to the Austrian border, is one of the great hopes of men’s tennis for the relay of the ‘Big 3’ (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic) but at 21 years old he has not risen yet a great trophy that confirms its potential.
Medvedev, by contrast, has resurfaced after his first Grand Slam title (2021 US Open) was followed by a very disappointing 2022.
After stumbling in the third round of the Australian Open in January, the Russian turned heads and capped his streak on Sunday with his fifth Masters 1000 title and first since Toronto in 2021.
“It had been a year and a half since I had won such an important title. At the end I was quite shaky,” he acknowledged.
“I wasn’t tense, because I’m not afraid of winning. But even so, my hands were shaking a bit, so the serve was a little harder but I managed to compose myself and close the game,” congratulated Medvedev, who is running out of nerves. hard court tournaments for a while.
“Now the clay court season starts, so let’s see how you do there,” Sinner himself reminded him.
#Tennis #Russian #Medvedev #crowns #great #start #year #Miami #Masters