(Video) Jannik Sinner Speaks Spanish to Thank Latin American Fans After Conquering Sunshine Double

Jannik Sinner becomes the first man to win the Indian Wells and Miami Open without dropping a set.

(Video) Jannik Sinner Speaks Spanish to Thank Latin American Fans After Conquering Sunshine Double

Jannik Sinner (via X/ATP/Sinnerfan)

Jannik Sinner created a moment of history by adding the Miami Open title to his Indian Wells victory earlier this month. The World No.2 became the first man since Roger Federer in 2017 to complete the Sunshine Double and he became the first man in the Open Era to do so without dropping a set.

Sinner is certainly one of the best players of his generation. However, his arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz is the most famous player in Latin America because of his Spanish origin. Alcaraz had failed to pick up any titles during the Sunshine Double, which gave Sinner a chance to win the Indian Wells and Miami Open.

On Sunday (March 29), Sinner made an imperious return to the Miami Open final after two years. The Italian star crushed the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka in a rain-interrupted Miami final, which was another illustration of how far ahead Sinner and Alcaraz remain ahead of the chasing pack in the men’s circuit.

Sinner defeated Lehecka 6-4, 6-4. In the six matches en route to the title, Sinner hit 70 aces, the highest tally of his career and he dropped a service game just once throughout the match and that came against Alex Michelsen in the fourth round. The Miami Open is Sinner’s second title of the season and second ATP Masters 1000 trophy.

Nonetheless, Sinner’s high-flying success in the Sunshine Double has now seen him close the gap between him and Alcaraz to 1,190 points on tour heading into the pivotal clay court season. Alcaraz may be the famous player in Latin America, but Sinner has fans in the region. During an interview with ESPNTennis after winning the Miami Open, he was told to send a message to Latin America fans in Spanish:

I don’t speak Spanish well, but thank you all very much, see you in Europe!

Sinner has now won his past 34 sets at the Masters 1000 events, dating back to the Paris Masters last November. That has enabled him to join Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the only men in the Open Era to claim three consecutive titles in the tier of tournaments just below the Grand Slams. The Italian star earned 2,000 points at the Sunshine Double as he didn’t defend a point. Last year, during that period, he was serving a three-month suspension for doping.

Jannik Sinner proud of his Sunshine Double triumph after a poor start to the season

Jannik Sinner didn’t start the year the way he had expected, as he failed to defend his Australian Open title in January. In the following month, he fell to Jakub Mensik in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open. After the two tournaments, there was more than 3,000 points gap between Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. But that has changed since the Sunshine Doubles, Sinner has two titles to his name and he’s less than 1,200 points behind Alcaraz on the ATP rankings.

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ)

After the Qatar Open loss, analysts and some former players had raised concerns that Sinner was going through a crisis period in his career. With back-to-back wins on tour, he has forced his critics to swallow their words. Following his triumph at the Miami Open for the second time, he admitted that he’s extremely happy to rebound with confidence on the court:

It has been an incredible swing for me and I’m extremely happy with the work we did to be in this position. We had some good practice days before Indian Wells and seeing this kind of result makes me happy, as does the level we are trying to produce and the player we’re trying to achieve.

Sinner will take a short break before transitioning from hard court to clay. He’s expected to open his clay-court account at the Monte Carlo Masters, a tournament at which he has never reached the final. Alcaraz has already begun training on clay, which will give him a little advantage as Sinner has just played two finals in a month, and the Monte Carlo starts on April 5.

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