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3 hours ago
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The past nine days at the Miami Open have not been kind to most of the world’s best male tennis players. One by one, so many have fallen, most dumped out with mediocre performances. Even Carlos Alcaraz, the world No 1, was not immune to the string of giantkillings in Florida.
One man remains completely unbothered. Having broken Novak Djokovic’s 2016 record for most consecutive sets won at Masters 1000 events earlier in the tournament, Jannik Sinner has continued to bulldoze through the draw as he tries to follow up his recent Indian Wells title by winning the Sunshine Double. He rolled into the semi-finals of the Miami Open with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over the 19th seed, Frances Tiafoe.
It was a 10th consecutive victory for Sinner, who has bounced back brilliantly after an underwhelming start to his season. He has lost serve only once in the tournament, a set in which he demonstrated mental toughness by recovering from 2-5 down in the second set tie-break of a bruising fourth-round match against Alex Michelsen of the US. Sinner has now won 30 consecutive sets at Masters 1000 events, extending his record.
Otherwise, things have been incredibly smooth for the Italian, whose performances this month have already allowed the world No 2 to close the gap on Alcaraz as he attempts to regain the ATP No 1 ranking. He was dominant against Tiafoe, serving extremely well, completely overpowering the American from the baseline and significantly narrowing the court with his defensive prowess. He sealed a straightforward victory by effortlessly holding serve to love with an ace down the T.
The ease and lightness Sinner is competing with reflects his current circumstances. A year ago, the Italian was in the middle of his three-month doping suspension. He is accustomed to the feeling of defending huge amounts of ranking points wherever he goes, but one year later the pressure is off. He has something of a free hit at these tournaments, with no points to defend and everything to gain. “I have zero [points to defend]. Whatever comes in, it’s positive. Even if you lose next round, nothing happens. So that’s good for me,” he said, smiling.
With either Alexander Zverev, the third seed, or the 18th seed, Francisco Cerúndolo next for Sinner, he remains the heavy favourite to win his second Miami Open title. Whoever they face in the final will also have to navigate the biggest match of their career. On Thursday, the Hard Rock Stadium witnessed one of the best matches of the season as the 28th-seeded Frenchman, Arthur Fils, found a way back from the abyss against Tommy Paul, the 22nd seed, recovering from four match points down to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final for the first time. He faces the 21st seed, Jiri Lehecka, on Friday.
At only 21 years old, Fils has long been considered one of the most talented players of his generation but a stress fracture in his back forced him off the tour for eight months from June. He returned last month having made significant technical and lifestyle changes, and he has shown why he is such a talent by playing at such a high level only one month into his return.
Fils first held a match point on Paul’s serve at 6-5 in set three, but the third set tie-break seemed to be out of reach as a brilliant Paul established a 6-2 lead. Through a combination of fearless ball striking, supreme defence and grit, Fils somehow found a path to victory. He said: “I just said: ‘OK, look, point by point. If I’m lucky, I’ll get through it. Otherwise, it’s OK, it’s not a big deal.’ He was playing better than me. I just have to fight until the end and see.”
