On Friday, March 29, the first men’s singles semifinal match of the Miami supertournament (USA) took place. Participants in the meeting were 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, seeded third, and 2024 Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner (2nd).
In the four matches preceding the match against Sinner, Medvedev did not give a single game to his opponents. In the quarterfinals, Daniil defeated Chilean Nicolás Harry (22) 6:2, 7:6. But Sinner had to recover in the third round, when his opponent was Tallon Grikspor (25) 5: 7, 7: 5, 6: 1. After that, Yannick never lost a set, defeating unseeded Christopher O’Connell and Tomas Machac.
Related materials
Medvedev and Alexandrova are in the Miami semifinals! Daniil will fight Sinner again
Medvedev and Sinner have faced each other regularly lately. They have already played 10 games. In addition, the first six direct confrontations, including two from last season, were won by the Russian, who defeated the Italian in the Miami-2023 final. But after that, Yannick improved and in the same 2023 he won three fights and took the main victory from him in the final of the Australian Open-2024: 3: 6, 3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 3. .
Related materials
Medvedev has not been able to beat Sinner for a year. In Miami, Daniil has a new attempt
What the opponents said before the match.
Medvedev admitted that Sinner has the character of a champion. “Yannick is playing better and better, he has confidence in himself. I watch some games on television. When he seems to have problems, he manages to find a solution. This is what champions do. “This is a big challenge for me and I will try to do my best,” Daniil said in the ATP press service.
Sinner suggested that the game would not be easy. “Obviously it will be a difficult game. He reached the final in Indian Wells. Furthermore, he has confidence in himself. He plays very well, especially here in this tournament. Last year he won.
This will potentially be a very tactical match. I have to be prepared if it starts like it did in Australia. You should be prepared and try to resolve it earlier. Then maybe something will change. So let’s take a look. This will be an interesting test for me. I hope to be able to play good tennis,” Yannick said at a press conference.
What the experts said
Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpishchev expressed hope that Medvedev can defeat Sinner. “The Italian is tenacious, psychologically stable, but in terms of the quality of his game he is similar to Medvedev. And Dana needs to break the tradition of losing in fighting; This time he can do it. He is capable of reaching the final,” TASS quotes Tarpishchev.
Two-time TBS champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov found it difficult to name a favorite. “I can’t name a favorite in this game. You can look at the quotes from bookmakers, perhaps they will help you answer the question of who is the favorite in the match. I have doubts about this topic. Sinner has won his last four matches against Medvedev after six losses. Sinner improved noticeably and started to play better, hence these results,” RB Sport quotes Kafelnikov.
And the honorable coach of Russia, Viktor Yanchuk, suggested that the key to success may lie in psychology. “It will be a very tense match. It will be difficult for Medvedev, but he has a chance to win. I think the odds are in Sinner’s favor, but psychology can help Daniil. He now attacks more, his pace of play is greater. Sinner is a difficult and fast opponent. He has strong shots and is also younger. But if the match is psychologically tense, Medvedev can overcome it. But this requires an equal party. It is difficult to expect Daniil to win, but he can have hope,” Yanchuk said in an interview with Championship.
Related materials
“Right next to the top 3.” Why is Medvedev ranked below Sinner and Alcaraz?
It remains to add that Sinner approached the match against Medvedev with impressive statistics: 20 wins and only one defeat in the 2024 season. Unfortunately, after this match the situation was even better: 21-1.
The start of the match was left in the hands of Sinner. The Italian immediately took his own serve and in the second game he also took someone else’s, taking advantage of the third break point. Medvedev tried to find something, he was active, but he made mistakes and Yannick, who generally looked better in the exchanges, took the last point of the match with a 2:0 victory. Daniil had the opportunity to make a counterattack, but his opponent escaped a double break point, thus confirming his 3:0 lead.
Things got even worse from there. The long fourth game, on Medvedev’s serve, was won again by Sinner. Both tennis players delighted the audience with brilliant exchanges in almost every play, but the Italian acted with greater precision and took advantage of the fourth break point. The score became 4:0 in favor of Yannick, which effectively ended the fight in the game. Daniil still took a game, serving to zero, but then his opponent responded in the same way: 6: 1 in just 34 minutes.
The advantage of the Italian over the Russian was eloquently demonstrated by the statistics: for winners – 7 against 3, for unforced errors – 6 against 12. Well, on the first serve, Medvedev won an unacceptably small number of points (47% ). And all this in front of the legendary Serena Williams.
Serena Williams
Photo: Elsa/Getty Images
Medvedev started the second game even worse than the first, losing his serve to love. Then Sinner calmly confirmed the break for 2:0. At the junction of the first and second set there was a segment in which the Italian scored 10 points in a row. The Russian had the opportunity to improve the situation a little in the fourth game, but he failed to take advantage of the break point, shooting into the hallway. After “exactly”, Yannick gave the final touch to Daniil with two aces in a row (3:1).
In the fifth game, Medvedev failed again and took only one point thanks to an ace. Sinner led 4-1 with two breaks and the Russian in such a situation had only minimal chances to save this semifinal. No miracle occurred. Serving for the match at 5:2, the Italian, who looked better throughout the match in long rallies, saved the game from 0:30, taking advantage of the first match point after Daniil again missed the shot – 6: 1, 6:2. in 1 hour 11 minutes.
So Medvedev, after losing to Sinner for the fifth time in a row, was again unable to defend his title. Sinner reached the final of an ATP tournament for the third time this season and the 17th time in his career. His record in previous decisive matches is 12-4. Yannick won both of his finals in 2024: the Australian Open and Rotterdam. This will also be his fourth Masters final. Of the three previous meetings, he won one, in Toronto 2023. Furthermore, if he wins the title in Miami, he will become number two in the world for the first time in his career, ahead of Carlos Alcaraz.
In the final, Sinner’s opponent will be the winner of the confrontation between Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria, 11) and Alexander Zverev (Germany, 4). This match will be played on the night of March 30, Moscow time, and the final will be played on Sunday, March 31. Follow all the events of the “Championship”.
