'Different player, different person' – Sinner hammers Medvedev to reach Miami Open final

Jannik Sinner produced a near-perfect show to ease his well past Daniil Medvedev on Friday and attain the Miami Open ultimate.

In a replay of final yr’s ultimate which Medvedev gained, Sinner obtained his revenge with a 6-1 6-2 win for a fifth successive victory over his Russian opponent.

Talking on court docket after the match, Sinner mentioned he felt “very comfortable” together with his efficiency in opposition to an out-of-sorts Medvedev.

“I felt nice on the court docket at this time,” he mentioned. “Normally, the extra you go on in a event, the extra snug I really feel.

“He [Medvedev] made quite a lot of errors, which he often doesn’t make. I simply took the possibility. I used to be anticipating a very powerful match.

“If he breaks me within the first set or within the second set, it’s already very totally different.”

Medvedev defeated Sinner 7-5 6-3 in final yr’s ultimate, however the first 2024 finalist feels totally different going into Sunday’s showdown.

The 22-year-old believes he’s “a special participant and a special particular person” to the one which got here runner-up 12 months in the past.

“Typically I feel again and keep in mind the evening earlier than the ultimate, I couldn’t sleep, I used to be sweating throughout the evening,” Sinner admitted.

“Now, I deal with the scenario a lot, a lot better and I’m simply excited and comfortable to come back again. Hopefully, I can play some good tennis on Sunday.”

Sinner stormed his approach by a speedy first set, the place he landed back-to-back breaks to take a five-game lead.

Medvedev lastly obtained on the board after half-hour to keep away from a bagel, however it was too little too late because the Italian shortly served out the opener with a maintain to like.

Within the ultimate sport of the opening set, Medvedev adopted the weird tactic of retreating from the baseline to assist fight Sinner’s harmful serves, however it did little to assist because the world No. 3 continued his relentless kind.

Medvedev was struggling simply as a lot with the ball in hand, as Sinner kickstarted the second set equally as impressively as he concluded the primary, with a break to like because the Russian started to develop pissed off.

One other crushing sport from the Australian Open champion Sinner adopted, as he discovered himself 2-0 up within the second set after simply seven minutes.

It was not till the second level within the third sport that Medvedev lastly gained some extent on serve, as he managed to halve the deficit to maintain himself in rivalry.

Sinner produced a sequence of monstrous serves to assist restore his two-game lead, however Medvedev confirmed indicators of enchancment as he started to slowly develop and compete within the match for the primary time.

Nevertheless, a defeat seemed inevitable for Medvedev as shortly as he again in it, as the superb Sinner sealed one other break for 4-1 to place himself inside touching distance of the ultimate.

After an excellent rally with equally spectacular efforts from the pair, Sinner moved to inside a sport of victory earlier than Medvedev held serve to remain alive.

However Sinner served out to wrap up the match after one hour and 9 minutes, as his gorgeous 2024 continued.

He’ll play both Alexander Zverev or Grigor Dimitrov in Sunday’s ultimate as he seeks a thirteenth ATP title and the world No. 2 spot.