Daniil Medvedev won his fourth title of the 2023 season but claimed Sunday’s Miami Open was the biggest one yet after knocking over Jannik Sinner 7-5, 6-3 in the decider.
Medvedev improved his outstanding season record to 29-3, well ahead of the next best Sinner (21-5) with the straight-sets triumph. The Russian will rise to number four in the ATP world rankings on Monday.
The Miami title comes after the 27-year-old lifted crowns in Dubai, Doha and Rotterdam and reached the Indian Wells Open final, only to lose to top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz. During that run, Medvedev has an overall record of 24-1.
Despite Medvedev’s remarkable form, Miami was his first ATP Masters 1000 title since winning the Canadian Open in Toronto in 2021.
“I haven’t won such a big title in probably a year and a half,” Medvedev said. “At the end I was quite shaky. Not even tight, because I’m not scared to win. But still the hands get a little shaky so the serve is a little bit tougher… I managed to get myself together and close the match.
“It’s the best start of the season I have ever had. Amazing amount of points won. I think 2019 was great also with six finals and it was also new for me in 2019. So I think it’s kind of the same.”
Medvedev triumphed in one hour and 34 minutes, although the contest was closer than the scoreline suggested, with both players hitting 27 winners and 14 unforced errors each.
The Russian was impressive on serve, winning 86 per cent of first serve points, but he also committed six double faults with nine aces.
“I’m really happy,” Medvedev said. “Today was a tough match. It was probably the hottest day and the most humid during the day.
“It was not easy conditions. I don’t know if Jannik had a small injury or cramp. I was also struggling, tried not to show it.”
Medvedev is the first male to reach consecutive ATP 1000 finals since Novak Djokovic in 2020. The Russian’s other ATP 1000 titles include Paris in 2020, Shanghai in 2019 and Cincinnati in 2019.
The 2021 US Open winner has also claimed 16 ATP tournament titles on hard courts since 2019, ahead of Djokovic (14) and Andrey Rublev (10) during that period. The ATP Tour now moves to clay courts.
“Generally I love hard courts,” he said. “I love playing on it. If it would be my choice, it would be only hard courts, but I completely understand that that’s not fair, if we can say like this. I feel the best at my game on hard courts.”
