Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia beat 10th seed Jannik Sinner of Italy 7-5 6-3 to win the Miami Open on Sunday. The match lasted for a little more than an hour and a half, as the 27-year-old Russian won his fifth career Masters 1000 title and also his fourth title of the year.
The 21-year-old Sinner, meanwhile, failed to win what would have been his maiden Masters 1000 title. However, he will take heart from the fact that he fought well against one of the best hard court players in the business.
How Daniil Medvedev beat Jannik Sinner to win the Miami Open
Medvedev took advantage of an erratic Sinner in the first set:
Jannik Sinner started the match on a scrappy note, taking more than 10 minutes to hold in his first service game. Medvedev then committed three double faults in the fifth game of the first set to hand Sinner a break of serve. However, the Russian broke back in the subsequent game to draw level.
The Russian then broke Sinner in the 12th game of the set to take it. Sinner committed a whopping 26 unforced errors in the first set, with 12 of them coming in the first three games. The Italian kept making forays into the net repeatedly and hit a number of volley winners. Sinner’s inside-out forehand also helped him win a few points. However, Medvedev was more patient and accurate in his shotmaking and kept playing his shots deeper to make sure that Sinner did not get too many short balls to dispatch. Medvedev’s crosscourt forehand also tested Sinner is court coverage quite a few times.
Medvedev romped home with a clinical display in the second set:
Sinner was once again jittery at the beginning of the second set, hitting a number of his backhands long. Medvedev, meanwhile, continued with his clinical approach by taking minimum risks and putting the ball into his opponent’s court to wait for the latter to make mistakes.
There were three consecutive breaks of serve after Medvedev won the first game of the second set. The Russian did not allow any further slip-ups to happen in the hot and humid conditions and maintained his lead to finish the match. Sinner became more disciplined with his shots as the second set progressed, but by then the fate of the match was sealed.
The Italian finished the match with 36 unforced errors against Medvedev’s 21. The Russian also won a staggering 86% of the points on his first serve in the match.
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
