Dimitrov seeks to stall Sinner’s surge in Miami showdown

Peter Staples/ATP Tour

Jannik Sinner has never been better placed to take home the trophy at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The in-form man on the ATP Tour, the Italian heads into his third championship match at the ATP Masters 1000 boasting a 21-1 record for the season. The 22-year-old feels ready to banish his memories of final defeat from 2021 and 2023 in Miami as he shapes up for a title clash with Grigor Dimitrov on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium (Watch from 3.p.m. EDT/8 p.m. CET).

“The first time I came here I made final, I couldn't sleep the night [before],” said Sinner on Friday after breezing past his 2023 conqueror Daniil Medvedev for the loss of three games in the semi-finals. “The second time, which was last year, I was relaxed because I went through periods where I already [had similar] experiences.

“Now I'm a different player, different person. I will handle it hopefully a little bit better again.”

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Sinner will not be the only man on court Sunday who is in the midst of a golden patch, however. The former World No. 3 Dimitrov has produced some of the best tennis of his career in the past 12 months, during which he has reached five ATP Tour finals (including Masters 1000 title matches in Paris and Miami) and snapped his six-year wait for a ninth tour-level trophy in January in Brisbane.

After beating Top 10 opponents Hubert Hurkacz, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in three consecutive matches to reach his maiden Miami final, Dimitrov will step on court against Sinner guaranteed a return to the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since 2018. It is a reward for the 32-year-old’s resurgent form, but not his ultimate goal as he seeks his second Masters 1000 crown (Cincinnati, 2017).

“For me what's better, above all that, is I have been able to put those matches back to back,” said Dimitrov after downing Zverev on Friday night in Florida. “I think the consistency of beating top players is way bigger a success than anything else. If you do that, you get the ranking. If you do that, things are just getting better for you. But in order to do it, it's where it all comes through.

“The discipline, the hard work, all the dedication, the adjustment to very different players throughout that time, you need to be able to do that on a constant basis. That's been happening for the past eight, nine, 12 months. It's been difficult. I had very difficult matches that I have lost, but I kept on believing, kept on doing the work.”

Dimitrov has not beaten Sinner since the pair’s first tour-level clash in 2020 on the Rome clay, with the Italian hitting back to take a 2-1 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead by winning their two subsequent meetings, both last year and on hard courts, in Miami and Beijing.

If the Bulgarian can replicate the high-class returning displays he produced against Alcaraz and Zverev, however, he will be confident of notching a first hard-court win against his rival. Dimitrov converted six of 10 break points he earned across those two matches, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and Sinner, whose own improvements on serve have been key to his successes in the past year, is well aware of the threat the 11th seed poses.

“We saw an amazing Grigor [against Alcaraz],” said Sinner on Friday. “He played incredible tennis. He's very, very talented physically, in really, really good shape. He has the talent to change things up on a tennis court because of the way he plays. He can stand back, he can go close. He has very, very good hand skills. He can do whatever he wants.”

Final Preview @MiamiOpen 🎾🏆

Dimitrov 🆚 @janniksin

1️⃣ #InAttack ⚔️ swung with the set winner in Beijing
2️⃣ Sinner #ShotQuality by round in Miami
3️⃣ Dimitrov #ShotQuality by round in Miami

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For Sinner, the mental side of the game could be key as he looks to dispel any lingering memories of his Miami final defeats to Hurkacz (in 2021) and Medvedev (2023). A stunning past eight months — during which he has won his maiden Masters 1000 crown (Toronto), his first Grand Slam title (at the Australian Open), and pushed to a career-high No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings — is likely to help him settle into the occasion.

“[I’ve learned] just to enjoy the moment, because it's a great day, Sunday, for tennis players,” said Sinner, who will leapfrog Alcaraz to become World No. 2 if he wins the title. “If you're still in the tournament, it means that it's the best day, an exciting day. So I'm just trying to enjoy this moment.

“It's the third time that I can play the final here in Miami, which is an amazing achievement for me personally, and then hopefully I can lift once the bigger trophy.”

Prior to his quarter-final win, Dimitrov described his relationship with the Miami event, where he had never previously been past the fourth round, as “interesting”. Indeed, the Bulgarian’s latest campaign in Florida was almost over soon after it began, when he stood two points from defeat at 2/5 in a second-set tie-break against Alejandro Tabilo in his opening match.

Rescuing that situation appears to have been the catalyst Dimitrov needed to find his feet at Hard Rock Stadium. He has since produced some of his best tennis of the year in easing past Yannick Hanfmann for the loss of just one game, ousting Hurkacz in a deciding-set tie-break, upsetting top seed Alcaraz, and holding off Zverev. Can he now stall the Sinner winning machine?

“After each match I felt like I was getting accustomed and acclimatising to the weather, to the balls, to the courts and everything like that,” explained Dimitrov. “So it's been a lot of difficult days overall: Windy, hot, humid, it rained, you play at night. So it was just a lot of adjustments to be done.

“I think that in itself gives me a tremendous amount of confidence being able to position myself, to prepare my body the best way possible. Of course with each win you get, it's inevitable, you get more excited. The adrenaline kicks in. You want to do better and more. Here we are in the final.”