Miami (AFP) – Jannik Sinner dominated Frances Tiafoe for a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA Miami Open. The world number two from Italy, a four-time Grand Slam champion, cruised over the 19th-seeded American in one hour and 11 minutes at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Sinner, hoping to complete a “Sunshine Double” with March titles at Miami and Indian Wells, stretched his ATP Masters 1000 set win streak to 30, having not dropped a set at the level since last October in Shanghai.
Sinner advanced to a semi-final against the winner of a later match between world number four Alexander Zverev of Germany and 19th-ranked Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina. Tiafoe netted a backhand to surrender a break to Sinner in the opening game of the match, and the American swatted a forehand long in the fifth game to hand Sinner a 4-1 edge. The Italian held twice to take the set in 31 minutes, losing only four points on his serve in the set.
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In the second set, Tiafoe saved a break point and held serve in the opening game, but Sinner broke in the third for a 2-1 lead when the American netted a forehand. Sinner broke again, this time at love, for a 5-2 lead when Tiafoe smacked a forehand wide, and held to take the match, improving to 5-1 all-time against Tiafoe. Sinner fired 33 winners against 15 unforced errors.
In later women’s semi-finals, world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus faces second-ranked Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, and US fourth seed Coco Gauff meets Czech 13th seed Carolina Muchova. Rybakina beat Sabalenka in January’s Australian Open final, and their rematch will be the first time outside the WTA Finals that the world’s two top-ranked players meet before a final since Martina Hingis and Jana Novotna in the 1998 US Open semifinals.
Defending champion Sabalenka hopes to complete the “Sunshine Double” with March titles at Miami and Indian Wells, where she defeated Rybakina in the final. Sabalenka leads Rybakina 9-7 in their all-time rivalry. Rybakina, who seeks her 100th match victory at the Masters 1000 level, was the Miami runner-up in 2023 and 2024 but has yet to lift the trophy.
Gauff is 5-0 in career meetings with Muchova, most recently winning in the round of 16 at the Australian Open. Gauff, the reigning French Open champion and 2023 US Open winner, seeks her sixth WTA Masters 1000 final and, at 22, would be the third-youngest to achieve the feat behind Caroline Wozniacki and Iga Swiatek. Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up, seeks her eighth career WTA final and third title after 2019 in Seoul and last month in Qatar.
© 2024 AFP
