Carlos Alcaraz, the top-ranked player in the world, was defeated by Jannik Sinner 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-2 on Friday, sending Sinner into the Miami Open championship round.
Sinner, 21, is off to a great start in 2023. The Italian has only lost three matches since the Australian Open began, to Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, and Alcaraz.
After a three-hour battle of attrition with Alcaraz, he has finally avenged his loss to Tsitsipas by winning in straight sets at the Rotterdam Open.
In addition, Sinner’s 26 unforced errors were only one fewer than Alcaraz’s 27, but the 19-year-old Spanish player had an uncommon nine double faults. Both players generated exactly 12 break point possibilities. Alcaraz’s 10-match winning streak was broken by the defeat.
Standing ovation SINN-sation 😱👏
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 1, 2023
The Hard Rock Stadium crowd can't quite believe this point, this match.@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen | @janniksin pic.twitter.com/zUW9p6whnH
The victory gives Sinner his second appearance in the Miami Open final after losing the 2021 edition to Hubert Hurkacz, and he now joins Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as the only players to ever reach the final here twice before turning 22.
Sinner will get a chance to avenge his only other loss this year in the final after Daniil Medvedev booked his spot with a 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-3 victory over Russian compatriot Karen Khachanov.
Incredibly, Khachanov lost despite hitting 53 winners and only 11 unforced errors, and he ended up edging the total point count 93-88, but he could only convert two of his six break point opportunities, while Medvedev converted two out of four.
The win means Medvedev is the first player since Roger Federer in 2019 to reach the final of both the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open in the same season, and he is the first since Federer in 2006 to reach five ATP finals before the clay court season begins.
Rotterdam 🏆
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 31, 2023
Doha 🏆
Dubai 🏆
Indian Wells 🥈@MiamiOpen 👀
WHAT a match point as @DaniilMedwed prevails 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 past Khachanov for a 5️⃣th straight final!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/cuNIls7k2Z