Sinner sweeps through Miami opener

Jannik Sinner was made to wait overnight for the chance to seal an opening win at the Miami Open presented by Itau by the Florida rain. The second seed ensured it was worth the wait on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium, where he breezed past Andrea Vavassori 6-3, 6-4.

Arriving in Miami after Carlos Alcaraz snapped his 16-win start to the 2024 season in the Indian Wells semi-finals, Sinner completed an 80-minute victory against his countryman to reach the third round. The match had been suspended on Friday with Vavassori serving at 2-3, 40/40, and Sinner made his move immediately upon resumption by breaking for a 4-2 lead.

The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Sinner had no problems serving out the first set from there, and another break in the fifth game of the second set proved enough to seal a victory in which he did not face a break point.

All about his business 🦊

No. 2 seed @janniksin eases past compatriot Vavassori 6-3 6-4 to progress in Miami.@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/2SXeeJHejU

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 23, 2024

“Yesterday I didn’t feel so good on court, today was a little bit better, so I’m happy about the performance,” said 22-year-old Sinner after the match. “For sure it’s tough, especially with a player when I have zero idea what is coming. So I had to prepare well and when I had the break I just tried to stay calm with my service games. It went my way in the end.”

Now 14-3 in Miami, the two-time finalist Sinner will take on Tallon Griekspoor next at the ATP Masters 1000 event. The Dutchman earlier recovered after squandering two match points in the second-set tie-break to edge #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen 7-6(5), 6-7(7), 6-4.

Also on Saturday, Andy Murray and Denis Shapovalov both downed seeded opponents to book their spots in the third round.

The former World No. 1 and two-time Miami champion Murray battled past 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-6(0), 6-3 to advance to face Tomas Machac. The 36-year-old Scot saved all seven break points he faced to notch his first Top 50 win since Toronto last August. It is also the first time he has posted consecutive wins at an event since the same tournament.

With his win, Murray avenged his defeat to Etcheverry at January’s Australian Open and levelled his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the Argentine at 2-2.

Shapovalov resumed his suspended match with 10th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas leading 2-1 with a break and he went on to seal a 6-2, 6-4 victory. After missing much of 2023 with injury, it was the Canadian’s fourth tour-level win of 2024 and his first against a Top 20 opponent since October 2022.

Shapovalov did not face a break point in his one-hour, 43-minute win against Tsitsipas, while he converted three of the 18 break chances he created on the Greek’s serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Having racked up consecutive wins at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since Cincinnati in 2022, he will next prepare for a third-round meeting with Alexander Bublik or Matteo Arnaldi.