Fourth semi-final in four tournaments played this season. Jannik Sinner continues its march also in Masters 1000 Of Miami, this time without any particular worries. After the difficulties encountered in the previous rounds against Greek track e O’Connellthe South Tyrolean beat the Czech in the quarter-finals Tomas Machac – who in Florida was playing the best tennis of his career and had been ousted from the tournament in the round of 16 Matteo Arnaldi – with the score of 6-4 6-2. Now for the blue the next opponent will be one of the Russians Daniil Medvedev and Chilean Nicolas Jarry. For Sinner it’s about seventh semifinal in a 1000, which allows him to decisively extend over the entire blue group. The second in this special ranking is Fabio Fognini with only three appearances.
A constantly growing victory
Sinner on the eve had defined Machac as a rival “tough” and the first few minutes prove him right. He responds to the blue’s break the immediate counter-break of the Czech, not at all intimidated by the big appointment. The blue tries to raise the rhythm and gets two more chances to break the serve. Machac cancels them and maintains the balance, until 3-3. Here Sinner takes the lead again, and then goes further in the next innings. It’s time that decide the first set, closed at first chance available.
The favorable inertia gives Sinner two new break points also at the beginning of the second set, but Machac saves them both. The Czech’s resistance does not last long, however, because the South Tyrolean’s break comes immediately afterwards. Two more occasions and the second is the good one. Machac is forced to make the mistake. It is the point of no return, the one that actually puts the final word to the match, because Sinner doesn’t stop, on the contrary. Also arrives double break of 4-1, the moment that precedes the first serve that closes a match played in constant crescendo.
Machac could have been a trap
A victory anyway non banalcoming against an opponent he didn’t have nothing to loose and who showed off as a young talented and with a remarkable personality. Suffice it to say that last year in the 500 in Dubai Machac forced Djokovic to three sets and two and a half hours of battle before giving up. The Czech born in 2000 here in Miami was in his first quarter-final in a Masters 1000, after eliminating, among others, Andy Murray and above all Andrey Rublev. A result resulting from a rapid and constant rise: at the end of 2023 he entered the top 100 for the first time and his 2024 was inaugurated with a third round at the Australian Open. Thanks to these additional 180 points in Florida he is already in the top 50, exactly at number 43.
The ranged duel with Alcaraz
This third career semi-final in Miami allows Sinner to keep alive the possibility of conquering the number 2 in the world at the end of the tournament, even if hopes are really low. In fact, the blue should win the title (thus redeeming the two lost finals in 2021 and 2023 respectively against Hubert Hurkacz e Daniel Medvedev) and at the same time hope that Grigor Dimitrov accomplish the feat by eliminating in the quarterfinals Carlos Alcaraz. If the Spaniard were to reach the semi-final instead, the overtaking would be postponed. Much easier to shift the focus to the clay season, where Sinner will only have to defend 585 points, against Djokovic’s 2,315, Alcaraz’s 2,265 and Medvedev’s 1,280. In the Race, however, these 360 points strengthen the blue’s lead, which rises to 3300 points.
2024-03-27 20:43:29
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