Jannik Sinner claims he is ‘a different player’ after thrashing Daniil Medvedev

Jannik Sinner is into the Miami Open for the third time in four years, after the Italian beat defending champion Daniil Medvedev in comfortable fashion.

Sinner beat Medvedev, 6-1 6-2, in just over an hour and the Australian Open champion admitted that he was expecting a tougher match from his opposition.

“I felt great on the court today,” said Sinner. “Usually, the more you go on in a tournament, the more comfortable I feel.

“He [Medvedev] made a lot of mistakes, which he usually doesn’t make. I just took the chance. I was expecting a really tough match. If he breaks me in the first set or in the second set, it’s already very different.”

Sinner has lost his two previous Miami Open finals, to Hubert Hurkacz in 2021 and the aforementioned Medvedev last year.

However, the world No.3 believes that he is a changed man heading into the 2024 final, “Different player, different person. Sometimes, you know I think back and I remember the night before the final. I couldn’t sleep, I was sweating during the night and now I handle the situation much, much better.

“I’m just excited and happy to be back. Hopefully I can play some good tennis Sunday. For me it’s an important tournament. If I can get it good, great. If not, I had another great chance and yeah, for me it’s just a great experience.”

1 – With victory over Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final, Jannik Sinner has become the first player to reach three men’s singles finals at the Miami Open before turning 23, since the event’s inauguration in 1985. Comfortable.#MiamiOpen | @MiamiOpen @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/1HyaT5ro3y

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 29, 2024

Sinner will take on Grigor Dimitrov in the final on Sunday, with the 22-year-old able to leapfrog Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP rankings if he wins the Miami Open title for the first time.

Inside the baseline…

Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev’s rivalry is very bizarre, with the latter winning their first six meetings and the Italian winning the five more recent matches. Sinner claims that he is a completely different player to last year and it is hard to disagree, with the Australian Open champion only losing three matches in the last six months.

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