Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner wins the Miami Open

The winner of the Miami Open, an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Masters 1000 tournament that ended in Florida with a prize fund of $9 million, was Jannik Sinner, who did not give up a single game in the semifinals against Daniil Medvedev and the final against Grigor Dimitrov. Having won his third title this season, the 22-year-old Italian rose to second place in the world classification for the first time and has a chance to overtake current leader Novak Djokovic in the coming weeks during European clay tournaments.

Jannik Sinner continues his great season. Having won the Australian Open and the tournament in Rotterdam, he reached the semi-finals in Indian Wells two weeks ago, and now brilliantly spent ending of the Miami Open. The critical moment for Sinner at this prestigious championship was the meeting in the 1/16 finals against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, in which the Italian lost the first set. But in the last two matches – against the Russian Daniil Medvedev and the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated three opponents from the top 10 in just a few days and returned to the top ten after five and a half years – the newly-minted Miami Open winner gave up only seven games. It was tennis of the highest level, based on one hundred percent self-confidence.

Answering the question about the main reason for Sinner’s impressive progress, Daniil Medvedev noted that the Italian had improved his serve.

Sinner himself called the key factor his excellent physical condition, which he has worked hard on in recent months. In any case, it is already clear that in the coming weeks Novak Djokovic’s main competitor in the fight for first place will not be Alcaraz, but Sinner, who beat the Spaniard and became the second racket of the world for the first time. True, it is not yet clear where and when he will be able to take the last step to the top.

Yesterday, a series of tournaments on clay began on the ATP calendar, which will last more than two months. It’s too early to talk about what the ranking situation will be following the results of the French Open, which ended a year ago with Djokovic’s triumph, but despite the unsuccessful start to this year, the Serb has a good chance of remaining in first place until the end of Roland Garros. At least in April, there will most likely not be a change in leadership.

At the moment (see reference) Djokovic is separated from Sinner by 1015 points, and at the first clay Masters in Monte Carlo, which this year will be held in the second half of April, the Italian will have to defend 360 points awarded last year for reaching semi-final, and the Serb received only 90 points for the third round.

Theoretically, Alcaraz, who now has 1080 points less, can beat Djokovic. But this requires that the Serb does not come to Monte Carlo, and the Spaniard wins there. If Djokovic immediately loses in Monte Carlo, he will receive 10 points, and Alcaraz, having earned 1000 points, will only be able to overtake him. However, according to the rules, the first will still be the Serbian, who has a greater total number of points in mandatory competitions – the final ATP tournament, Grand Slam championships and Masters 1000 competitions, and then Alcaraz will have to defend last year’s titles in Barcelona and Madrid, that is, he will increase his amount by In any case, he won’t be able to.

Sinner is in a more advantageous situation compared to Alcaraz, although he has never shone on clay. In addition, the Italian, like, by the way, Djokovic, is not entered into the 500 category tournament in Barcelona in the third week of April and, therefore, can theoretically become first only after the Madrid Masters, which finishes on May 5. In general, the situation is still under the control of the Serb. The only question is how successfully he can perform at spring clay tournaments. Last season, Djokovic didn’t do this very well, although he got into crazy shape during Roland Garros.

As for the two Russian tennis players from the top ten – Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, who a year ago, unexpectedly for many, won in Rome and Monte Carlo, respectively, they need to advance through the tournament brackets as far as possible to maintain their current positions. Otherwise, Medvedev may lose fourth place to Alexander Zverev, and Rublev may leave ahead of himself, for example, two-time Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud, who last season on his favorite ground before the start in Paris performed unevenly and now has to defend not such a large number rating points.

Evgeniy Fedyakov