Victory in Indian Wells and now also triumph in Miami: Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner has achieved the so-called “Sunshine Double” and thus crowned a perfect month of tennis in the USA.
After defeating Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, the world number two won the final 6:4, 6:4 against the Czech Jiri Lehecka.
A very special moment for Sinner
The 24-year-old became the eighth player in total to achieve the so-called “Sunshine Double” – and the first since Roger Federer in 2017. Sinner is the first player to achieve the feat without losing a set. At the same time, the South Tyrolean expanded his record in Masters tournaments and has now won 34 sets in a row.
“This is a very special moment”said Sinner after the success in Miami, “I never thought I would win the Sunshine Double because it is so difficult to achieve.”
Second title in Miami
Due to rain, the final in Florida began more than an hour late. After Sinner secured the first round thanks to an early break, the game had to be interrupted for more than an hour at the start of the second set due to renewed rain. In the second, even set, Sinner got the decisive break to make it 5:4 and then brought the service through safely. After 1:33 hours of pure playing time, Sinner completed his second success at the event after 2024. Last year he was unable to defend his title due to a doping ban.
Lehecka, also 24 years old, was in a final of the Masters series for the first time and will reach his personal highest position to date, 15th, in the world rankings.
At first there was little shine at Sinner
Before the success over the Czech, Sinner had recorded his seventh success in a row against the best German tennis professional in a 6:3, 7:6 (7:4) win over Zverev. This was the fourth time in five appearances that he had made it to the final of the hard court tournament, which is worth 9.4 million US dollars (8.16 million euros).
The players entered the pitch almost 90 minutes late. The long break didn’t seem to have been good for the finalists. Both professionals made an unusually large number of mistakes, and a twisted forehand from Lehecka unsurprisingly sealed the first break. Sinner took a 3-1 lead without shining. The South Tyrolean simply made fewer mistakes than his opponent.
Carefree Lehecka
When the world number two had three break points against him in the subsequent game, the 24-year-old showed why he is at the top of the world. Where the young Czech wobbled in the crucial moments, Sinner still managed to get his serve through even when the score was 0:40.
But the early deficit didn’t seem to hurt Lehecka in any way. He seemed increasingly carefree, played his serves confidently, even without losing a point. But he just didn’t manage to get the all-important re-break. So Sinner secured the first set (6:4) after 46 minutes.
