Category: ATP Miami

He leapfrogged Carlos Alcaraz in the rankings following his victory in Florida to climb to world No. 2 ahead of the clay season.

“Jannik has been playing amazing tennis. It’s impressive to see him keeping this way of playing,” Dimitrov said.

“He plays his shots with zero doubt. It’s just clear that it’s time for his prime tennis.

“Can he play better? I don’t know. He’s the one who has to show up and he’s the best player right now in the world.”

Dimitrov moved up to No. 9 in the world after a run where he defeated top 10 players Hubert Hurkacz, Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev to reach the championship match.

The 32-year-old had no answer to the Italian in a 6-3 6-1 defeat, but enjoyed the experience of going deep at a big event.

“I felt like a rockstar these last few days,” Dimitrov said.

“I really felt embraced, felt the love of the crowd. It’s been amazing weeks honestly.”

“When you lose matches it doesn’t matter if it’s like that or three sets. I need some days off to reassess where I’m at and get back at it, it’s the only way,” he added.

“I still can compete against these guys and do good against them. For sure Sinner is the one to chase right now.”

Although Dimitrov’s defeat came in emphatic style, with the Bulgarian only able to win one game in the second set, he still believes the new generation aren’t at the level of the ‘Big Three’ who came before.

“The toughest player I’ve ever played at his absolute prime was Roger [Federer],” Dimitrov said.

“I remember one day at Wimbledon I wanted to dig a hole and disappear. I’ve not felt that way against the other ones.”

Next up for both players is the Monte-Carlo Masters, another ATP 1000 event and the first big tournament of the clay-court season.

Jannik Sinner claimed the Miami Open title and the world No. 2 ranking with a 6-3 6-1 win over Grigor Dimitrov on a delightful sunny afternoon in Florida on Sunday.

After losing the final to Hubert Hurkacz in 2021, and Daniil Medvedev in 2023, this was Sinner’s third attempt to close out the Miami Open title, but unlike in previous years, he arrived in Miami with title-winning experience.

Since last year’s defeat to Medvedev, Sinner has won both his first ATP Masters 1000 title (the 2023 Canadian Open) and January’s Australian Open.

When the final got underway, Dimitrov appeared to have brought his best form. The players swapped service games, but the Bulgarian was in the zone. His second service game was won superbly to love, with Sinner little more than an interested spectator.

From there though, Sinner sunk his teeth into the match and never let go.

He levelled the set at 2-2 and then produced a brilliant game of his own to pull off the first break of the match.

After holding to move into a 4-2 lead, he went so close to another break but Dimitrov won a breathtaking game to remain in touch.

After another successful Sinner hold, Dimitrov was up against it again in his next service game.

The Italian had two set points on his opponent’s serve and, while Dimitrov defended the first, he could do nothing to stop Sinner taking the set after 43 minutes on the court.

Sinner began the second set as he had left off the first, blasting past Dimitrov in the opening game, sealing it with a smash at the net.

Dimitrov held to love in response, but that was the high point of the set for him.

Sinner blitzed through his next service game before breaking Dimitrov’s serve in the following game. At 3-1 up, Sinner held easily before breaking again.

With less than half an hour gone in the second set, Sinner stepped up to serve for the match, doing so once again to love.

In his on court interview after the match, Sinner spoke with delight.

He said: “I’m really proud, obviously about the result. I started off struggling a little bit this week. I hadn’t had so much time to adapt on this court, so I knew it was going to be tough. But I got better as the week went on.

“Today’s performance was really good. I’m just proud of how I handled the situation, it was not easy. Yeah, it was a really good two weeks.”

Reflecting on his victory at the third time of asking, Sinner continued: “This was my third time in the final and I figured this would be the lucky one. I’m really happy I can hold the big trophy.″

The new world No. 2 continued: “This result is such a huge pleasure to share with my team, my family and all the people watching at home. The atmosphere has been amazing throughout the whole 10 days.

“This is one of most special tournaments for me. It’s good to be back here and I hope to see you all back here again next year.”

Speaking to Sky Sports, Sinner went on: “It has been a very special week for me. I have faced very difference situations on the court, different opponents. I was full of energy today.

“I’m very happy to now be No. 2 in the world, but it’s just a number… For me, the most important thing is trying to execute my game plan in the best possible way – which I’ve done. I’m very happy.”