Miami Open Daily Preview: Jannik Sinner Plays Grigor Dimitrov for the Men’s Championship - UBITENNIS

Miami Open Daily Preview: Jannik Sinner Plays Grigor Dimitrov for the Men’s Championship

By Matthew Marolf
4 Min Read

The men’s singles final will be played on Sunday, as will the final in women’s doubles.

Since last fall, Jannik Sinner has clearly become the best men’s singles players in the world.  He has gone 41-3, with four singles titles, which of course includes his first Major, as well as a Davis Cup crown.  Now he plays for his second Masters 1000 title.

Since last fall, Grigor Dimitrov has played his best tennis since 2017, when he won the ATP Finals, his only Masters 1000 title, and came oh-so-close to reaching a Major final.  He has gone 34-9, having reached the semifinals or better at seven events, and advancing to four finals.  Now he plays for his second Masters 1000 title.

Also on Sunday, it’s the women’s doubles championship match, featuring Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (ALT) vs. Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe (2) at 12:30pm local time.  Kenin and Mattek-Sands are an alternate team, meaning they weren’t initially in the draw.  But this is their second final out of the three tournaments, after winning Abu Dhabi last month.  Dabrowski and Routliffe are the reigning US Open champions, and are vying for the second biggest title of their partnership.


Grigor Dimitrov (11) vs. Jannik Sinner (2) – Not Before 3:00pm on Stadium Court

This is a third Miami Open final out of the last four years for Sinner, who is yet to win this event.  In 2021, he lost in straight sets to Hubert Hurkacz.  In 2023, he lost in straights to Daniil Medvedev, though it’s worth noting Jannik was quite ill on that day.  He avenged that 2023 loss in Friday’s semifinals, thumping Daniil by a score of 6-1, 6-2.  Sinner has dropped only one set through five matches, and is now 21-1 this season.

Prior to this fortnight, this was the only Masters 1000 tournament where Dimitrov had never advanced to the quarterfinals, and also the only one where he owned a losing record.  But he is now into the championship match after surviving a trio of three-set matches, and defeating a trio of top 10 players (Hurkacz, Alcaraz, Zverev).  Grigor’s level against Carlitos on Thursday night was phenomenal, and just a day later, he backed it up by earning his first victory over Sascha in nearly 10 years.

Sinner leads their head-to-head 2-1, and has taken their last two meetings, both on hard courts.  Dimitrov’s only win came four years ago on clay.  At this same event a year ago, Jannik was victorious in straight sets.  And last fall in the quarterfinals of Beijing, Janniik prevailed 6-2 in the third.

In Sunday’s final, the Italian is the favorite to win again, and to claim his second Masters 1000 title.  As impressive as Dimitrov has been, especially in the last two rounds, Sinner has elevated his game to a consistently elite level that only a select few in the sport can reach.  With a victory, Jannik will reach a new career-high of World No.2, knocking Alcaraz down to No.3.  And he’ll be just 1,000 points of shy of Novak Djokovic, who has a lot more points to defend than Sinner this spring and summer.


Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.

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