In the absence of the final episode, this Miami Masters is translated into a matter of moments. One is more concentrated, the other is more prolonged. With Carlos Alcaraz out of the fight, the final poster shows the names of Jannik Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov, two tennis players in a state of grace. Little news, in the case of the first; Fantastic news about the second one. Until not long ago, few would have bet on the Renaissance of the Bulgarian, who in some way was considered amortized, taking into account that he is already over thirty and that his best moment dates back to seven years ago, when he won the Masters Cup in London. Now, back, he will challenge this Sunday (9:00 p.m., Movistar) the Italian, who has won all of his matches this year, with the exception of the blow that Alcaraz gave him in the Indian Wells semifinals.
At this time, Sinner continues to establish himself as the most regular and the most powerful. Champion in Australia and Rotterdam, and riding an impressive streak of 21 victories in 22 matches, he swept Daniil Medvedev this Friday, who lost in 1h 09m: 6-1 and 6-2. The Russian, unrecognizable by the fragility of his game and his anesthetized pride, was unable to face him and let himself go, perhaps remembering the painful defeat in January in Melbourne, when the redhead won two sets against him in the grand final. He sealed the afternoon with 22 unforced errors and only seven winners, while on the other side he didn’t even really step on the accelerator. The one from San Candido neutralized the three breaking balls against him that he had to defend, and the inertia led him to sign a card with 17 winners and only three errors.
In this way, Sinner will play his third final in Miami – after those in 2021 and 2023 – and aspires to celebrate his second Masters 1000, after last year’s success in Toronto. “I’m surprised at myself,” he admits. “But I focus on the day to day, because now the rivals know me better and want to beat me, so I must be prepared,” continues the Italian, who also has the opportunity to unseat Alcaraz in the second place of the ATP. ; If he wins he would achieve it, at the same time that he would achieve the best ranking of his career. In any step, he will face an opponent who has reversed the downward dynamics of recent years and who has once again filtered among the strongest on the circuit, with confidence skyrocketing. For now, the victory against Zverev (6-4, 6-7(4) and 6-4, in 2h 37m) gives Dimitrov ninth place.
“Now I fight my own battles. I run my own race. I’m on a very different path in my life, in my career. There is a lot that has been done, a lot of work, a lot of everything behind it. “I continued to believe, I continued to prosper, I continued to have faith in myself…” argues the man from Jaskovo, until not too long ago a sad and depressed competitor, weighed down by that harmful comparison with Roger Federer —Baby Federer, because of the aesthetic parallelism—that he has finally left behind to discover himself. Superb against Alcaraz, he knew how to handle the delicate moments of the fight with Zverev, who had beaten him seven consecutive times, and will savor his third final of a thousand. He thus extends the acceleration that he gave in the fall – another victory against Alcaraz and the final in Paris-Bercy – and that he maintains this campaign, in which he has already won the Brisbane title.
It was not listed in the top-10 since 2018. He had not won a trophy since 2017. He could not raise his head. But here Dimitrov is again, and tennis celebrates him. It only remains to be seen if the physical and emotional response to Sinner is up to par. The Italian dominates the head-to-head 2-1, with two victories (Miami and Beijing) in 2023.
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