“He’s a player who made me a better player,” Jannik Sinner admits to Daniil Medvedev’s influence on his career as he edges out the Russian in Miami

Jannik Sinner destroyed Daniil Medvedev in a one-sided Miami Open semifinal. In what was a rematch of the 2024 Australian Open final, the Italian took just an hour to knock out the defending champion in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.

Sinner has now won five matches on the trot against the Russian. But just 11 months ago, Medvedev used to have a stunning 6-0 head-to-head record against the Italian. So when the second seed was asked about what he did to challenge the Russian and defeat him like this, Sinner said that Medvedev has only made him a better player.

But for sure, he's a player who made me a better player, because you know, I had to, for example, in Beijing, I started to serve and volley.

Jannik Sinner said after the match

Sinner recalled that he noticed how certain things did not work against Medvedev and other opponents. And so, by keeping these things in mind, he worked on his mistakes to make himself a better player.

Then, in Vienna, I tried to serve and volley but it was not working again. So here I had to be very careful about a couple of things, but you know, these kinds of players, they make you a better player. It sometimes doesn't matter head-to-head, but it matters how you understand your losses and try to learn.

Jannik Sinner added

Jannik Sinner will face Grigor Dimitrov in the Miami Open final

Jannik Sinner has not lost a single match this season except in the semifinal of the Indian Wells to Carlos Alcaraz. The World No.2 could lose his spot in the rankings if Sinner wins the title in Miami by beating Grigor Dimitrov.

The Bulgarian stormed past Alcaraz in the quarterfinal to deny him the chance to bag the Sunshine Double. After an easy win over the first-seed, the Bulgarian overcame Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the semifinal 6-4, 6-7(4-7), 6-4. And now Dimitrov is all set to play his third final at an ATP 1000 event since last reaching in 2017 and 2023.

The final between Dimitrov and Sinner will be the fourth time they will face each other. The Italian here leads the head-to-head, also winning two of the previous matches. They last faced in Beijing last year, which Sinner won in three sets.

In case you missed it:

• “They didn’t realize his intelligence,” Andy Roddick slams Andy Murray’s early image to audience as he paints the Brit in a heroic light
• “We don’t know each other too close,” Daniil Medvedev opens up about relationship with Jannik Sinner after a tough loss at the Miami Open

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