LONDON: Jannik Sinner won his third title of the season as he finally became the Miami Open champion.
The Italian, who claimed the Australian Open in January and followed it up with victory in Rotterdam, put in a scintillating display to beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-1 in Florida, reported PA Media.
His success sees the 22-year-old become the new world number two and avenges defeats in the final here in 2021 and 2023.
It also means his semi-final loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells a fortnight ago remains the only time he has been beaten so far this year.
“It has been a very special week for me, I have faced different kinds of situations on the court and different opponents,” he told Sky Sports.
“But I guess I managed the situation well.
“I am very happy to be number two in the world, it is just a number, for me most important is trying to execute my gameplan and I managed to do this.”
Dimitrov, who is enjoying a resurgence and ousted Alcaraz in the semi-final here, had the first opportunity to gain the upper hand against Sinner and things might have been different had the Bulgarian not gone wide on an early break point.
That allowed Sinner to take control and he broke in the next game to open up a lead before missing more break points to go 5-2 up.
His domination continued, though, as he only let Dimitrov win one more game in the match.
The Italian took the first set with a stunning backhand down the line and then was in total control of the second set as his opponent barely got on the board.
Sinner closed it out to claim a second Masters 1000 title. – BERNAMA-PA Media/dpa
