Miami (AFP) – World number two Jannik Sinner of Italy stretched his win streak over fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev to seven matches on Friday, advancing to a Miami Open men’s final against Czech Jiri Lehecka. The 24-year-old Italian fired 15 aces in beating Germany’s Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) after an hour and 53 minutes, boosting his streak of consecutive sets won at the elite Masters 1000 level to 32.
Sinner is trying to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2017 to complete the “Sunshine Double” by winning titles at Indian Wells and Miami in the same year. “Standing here again in a final means very much to me,” Sinner said. “We’ll try to push in a couple of days but in any case, it has been an incredible swing.” Reigning Wimbledon champion Sinner, a four-time Grand Slam winner, also beat Zverev two weeks ago in the Indian Wells semi-finals and seeks his second Miami crown in three years.
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“Coming here, trying to produce some good tennis, that was my main goal,” Sinner said. “Trying to play as many matches as possible. I couldn’t do better. I’m very happy.” Also attempting a “Sunshine Double” is world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who defends her Miami crown against American fourth seed Coco Gauff in Saturday’s WTA final.
Lehecka, seeded 21st, dominated 28th-seeded Arthur Fils of France 6-2, 6-2 in the other semi-final at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Lehecka is winless in three matches against Sinner without taking a set. “He’s an incredible player,” said Sinner. “He’s going to be for sure more free than me but I try to control whatever I can control and the rest we’ll see how it goes.”
Sinner blasted a forehand winner to break Zverev for a 3-1 lead and held from there to capture the first set after 42 minutes on a service winner. Neither player could manage a break into the second-set tie-breaker, which turned when Zverev sent an overhead smash long to hand Sinner a 5-4 lead. Zverev, who last beat the Italian in the fourth round at the 2023 US Open, sent a backhand wide on the next point and Sinner settled matters with a service winner, improving to 8-4 all-time against the German.
“Today has been a very tough encounter. He played some incredible tennis,” Sinner said. “I was serving very well, especially in the crucial moments, so I’m very happy.” Sinner seeks a 26th career ATP title in his 35th career final.
Lehecka, who has not dropped a set in the event, delivered the Frenchman’s first four broken service games to advance after 75 minutes. “It feels great. It’s definitely something I’ve been working towards the whole year and the whole pre-season,” Lehecka said. “I really trusted my game and the work I put in. It didn’t matter when, but I knew it would come and today was a nice example of how I want to play. I executed it well so I’m very happy with today’s performance.”
Lehecka will jump past his current career-high ranking of 16th next week. He’s assured of leaping eight spots to 14th and with a title, would reach 12th. The 24-year-old seeks his third ATP title after Adelaide in 2024 and Brisbane in 2025. It’s the eighth career final for the Czech but his first in a Masters 1000 event.
© 2024 AFP
