Jannik Sinner is one step away from the Sunshine Double, the combination of those select few who manage to win the American Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.
The world number 2 defeated Alexander Zverev, the German number 4 in the ranking, 6-3, 7-6 in the semifinals, reaching the final in Miami where tomorrow he will meet the Czech Jiri Lehecka , number 22 in the world.
A strong performance by Zverev wasn't enough to take a single set. Sinner, always perfect in the key moments of the match, delivered yet another monstrous serving performance with 15 aces. He broke serve in the fourth game of the first set and held on to a 6-3 lead .
In the second set, however, the match goes to a tiebreak, with Zverev making the decisive error at 4-all, before Sinner closes out the match with an ace in one hour and 53 minutes .
Sinner's head-to-head record rises to 8-4, with Jannik having won the last seven matches.
The 24-year-old South Tyrolean thus reaches his thirty-fifth ATP final and is now aiming for his 26th career title and his second victory on the Miami hard court in three years. Sinner also extends his streak of consecutive sets won in Masters 1000 tournaments to 32, an all-time record .
And now the Sunshine Double is upon us, the last to achieve it was Roger Federer in 2017. Against Lehecka, who is having a splendid tournament, Sinner has never lost a set in four direct clashes. The last one at Roland Garros 2025 was a real massacre for the Czech, defeated 6-0, 6-1, 6-2.
(Unioneonline/L)
