Six first games in more than 35 minutes… At 3-3 in the first set, we were on a good footing and at this stage, we could legitimately think that this almost ideal Miami final between the best player in the world of the month and a half elapsed (Daniil Medvedev) and the world number 1 scorer in the semi-finals (Jannik Sinner) was going to offer the expected showdown. It will not take long to become disillusioned. A game later, the Italian called the doctor. Four games later, he “redacted” his serve and the set. A good half hour later, it was over.
Jannik Sinner confirmed it on the microphone during the ceremony: he did not feel well physically, without this having to do with the very humid heat that plagued Miami this Sunday. He had actually woken up in this feverish state. Would he have done better at 100% of his means? There is absolutely no doubt about it. Would he have beaten this Daniil Medvedev? Nothing is less sure. At the very least, it is strongly permitted to debate it.
Because from the first exchanges, the Russian evolved one or even several notches above what he had shown so far in Miami, where, apart from a semi-final all the same solid – without being brilliant – against Karen Khachanov, he had often seemed quite far from the level glimpsed in recent weeks according to his three previous titles won in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, not to mention his final in Indian Wells where he did not like the conditions. To tell the truth, his presence in the final also had a lot to do with his extraordinary confidence at the time and the various boosts received during the tournament, with a relatively lenient picture, especially if we add Alex Molcan’s withdrawal in the third round.
But this time, we felt a much more bloody, fast, precise and even sometimes brilliant Daniil like this sumptuous passing forehand at the end of the race (above). Paradoxically, it was he who took the first break of the match (at 2-2), but it was mainly because he committed three double faults in this game, perhaps the only small flaw in his mechanics. current (he committed six this Sunday and six, already, in the semi-final). Despite everything, on the physiognomy of the start of the match, it was a bit against the course of the game.
Moreover, the Russian did not have to force his talent much to unbreak in stride and equalize at 3-3, at a time when we therefore thought that the announced showdown was taking shape. Except that it was, rather, the beginning of the end.
Opposite, the Sinner so electric against Alcaraz in the semi-final this time seemed extinguished, his ball was going slower, was taken less early and above all strayed far too often outside the limits of the court. Maybe also a question of technical compatibility (or rather incompatibility). If he had feasted against the Spaniard by using the opposing power to spit it in his face, standing on the table, this time he seemed embarrassed by the fluffier balls of Medvedev, who was doing what it was necessary to suck up his strike force while being much more regular, winning most of the long exchanges and being clinical at the net (six points scored in six climbs).
6-0: Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner’s pet peeve?
It is possible that Daniil Medvedev has something of a pet peeve for Jannik Sinner, whom he has now beaten six times in six meetings, which does not really reflect the real balance of power between the two men. While waiting to take revenge one day, the Italian will find some consolation on Monday by noting his return to the top 10, which he had already reached for the first time in 2021, the year of his first final (also lost) in Miami, against Hubert Hurkacz.
Daniil Medvedev will be world number 1 in the Race and that’s only fair in view of his impressive start to the season. In a pure “Daniilian” style, that is to say without necessarily impressing with each stroke of the racket, without backfiring as much as a Carlos Alcaraz or dominating as much as a Novak Djokovic, he adapted to everything, chameleon, to win these four titles in one quarter, which makes his start to the season the most impressive since that, in 2016, of Djokovic, the great absentee of this American tour.
Since the Australian Open – where he had disappointed by being eliminated in the third round by Sebastian Korda -, that is to say in just over two months, Gilles Cervara’s protege has already scored more ATP points (2,850) than he had previously scored in a year, between Australian Open 2022 and Australian Open 2023 inclusive (2,750 points). If he manages to negotiate better than usual the season on clay, traditionally his least prolific, he will once again become a very serious client, in the short term, for this place of world number 1 in the technical classification which Novak recovers this Monday. Djokovic at the expense of Carlos Alcaraz.
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