Jannik Sinner is the only player through to the semifinals at the Miami Open. His upcoming opponent was supposed to be determined on Wednesday night, but the quarterfinal showdown between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz was postponed due to rain.
As such, all three of the remaining quarterfinal contests will be played on Thursday (the forecast is much improved and should be clear for the remainder of the week). Sinner, who defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon prior to the downpour, can sit back, relax, and watch the matches unfold.
Regardless of whom the Italian faces on Friday, it will be a rematch of an Indian Wells encounter two weeks ago. Sinner beat Fritz 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the quarters before losing to Alcaraz 7-6(4), 6-3 in the semis.
As those recent results indicate, the 21-year-old would be the favorite against Fritz and the underdog against Alcaraz. Nonetheless, he would be just fine with the latter situation.
“If we play [in Miami] I would be happy to play against him again, because I look forward for these kind of matches,” Sinner assured. “As I said [in Indian Wells], I feel like he makes me a better player. We (will) see the outcome, and if it’s good, it’s good. If not, we see what we have to improve again.
“I said to my team after Indian Wells, I would love to play against Carlos (in Miami)…. He won a Grand Slam and he won Miami, Indian Wells. He won Miami last year, so for sure he is at the moment (he is) one of the best players if not the best player. He only lost one match this year, and he was also injured [in Rio] in that match he lost….
“I just stay focused [on] myself. I have my own path; I have my own way to go. I know that I can still improve many things and that’s a positive I can see, because I still can improve and I can play already (at a) good level now.”
“Good” would be an understatement.
Sinner is 20-4 this season with only one loss to an opponent currently outside the top five (Sebastian Korda in Adelaide). He is up to No. 11 in the world, is fifth in the live race to Turin, and has ousted Laslo Djere, Grigor Dimitrov, Andrey Rublev, and Emil Ruusuvuori at the Miami Masters without dropping a single set or conceding more than four games in any set.
When you’re that confident, you don’t mind seeing the world No. 1 on the other side of the net.
Sinner on fire
How sweet from Sinner. Looks as if he’ll get the chance. Looking like a great rivalry brewing.
Sinner was fabulous in the first set against Rublev. I hope we have a great match and I will be cheering for him!