Irrepressible sinner in Miami, he is number 2 in the world

Listen to the audio version of the article

Up until the final of the Masters 1000 in Miami, there was a lot of talk regarding Grigor Dimitrov, his talented tennis, his winners, his impeccable finishes at the net, his one-handed backhand…a string of victories in a tournament objectively exciting ( once morest Hurkacz, Alcaraz, Zverev). Until the final, in fact. When Jannik Sinner was on the other side of the net. That made Dimitrov look like another player, demolishing him 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and 13 minutes.

The match

The South Tyrolean, following a tournament that wasn’t always brilliant (in the second round he had taken a big risk with Griekspoor, in the round of 16 he had an uphill start with O’Connell), showed his best tennis with Dimitrov, already found in the semi-final with an unmatched Medvedev. day. Concentrated, solid, supported by his serve in important moments, he defused the opponent’s pressing by punishing him with deadly passes when he came to the net (like the backhand down the line that closed the first set) or by prolonging tight rallies from the baseline that the Bulgarian did not it held. All without making any mistakes (very few free throws) and managing to be incisive even on Dimitrov’s serve (22 points in return once morest the 10 scored by the opponent). The second set slipped away in just over half an hour due to the physical decline of the 32-year-old, who illuminated a game now full of errors with a couple of full-arm backhands down the line, before surrendering 6-1.

Number 2 in the world

With this success, the thirteenth of his career and the second in a Masters 1000 following the one in Toronto in 2023, Sinner overtakes Alcaraz and becomes number 2 in the world, the first Italian tennis player to do so, preceded by Nole Djokovic. Since the beginning of the year the blue, who triumphed at the Australian Open and the Rotterdam tournament, has lost only one match, the Indian Wells semi-final once morest Alcaraz. The season on clay now opens, a surface on which Sinner has yet to express himself at his best. We start from Montecarlo, on 7 April, continue to Barcelona and Madrid before arriving in Rome, on 6 May… the expectations are very high.