Dimitrov battles past Zverev to book final clash with Sinner

MIAMI: Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov defeated Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-7(4) 6-4 in a thrilling contest on Friday to reach the Miami Open final, where he will face world number three Jannik Sinner.

Dimitrov, the 11th seed, utilised his forehand to devastating effect throughout the match, making just three unforced errors to take the first set.

Fourth seed Zverev, however, regained some control in a tight second set, serving with accuracy to deny Dimitrov any opportunities to break before clinching the tie-break to level the match.

Dimitrov took his tally of winners up to 44 in the decider as he defended a break point and then took the lead at 4-3, before confidently settling the match on serve for his first win over Zverev since 2014.

“It was like a dogfight on both ends, we really went after each other,” said Dimitrov, whose victory will see him return to the top 10 for the first time since 2018. “He upped his game in the second set, in the third set he also had a chance but I served well.”

In Sunday’s final, Dimitrov will face Sinner, who powered past defending Miami Open champion Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-2 to reach the final for the second year in a row.

Sinner’s hot streak continues

when Medvedev beat Sinner to claim the Miami title 12 months ago, he extended his head-to-head record over the Italian to 6-0.

But since then, the second seed has enjoyed the upper hand as he has delivered the knockout blow on five successive contests, including a five-set thriller in the Australian Open final earlier this year.

There was no such drama on Hard Rock Stadium court as Sinner delivered a clinical performance to end Medvedev’s challenge in 69 minutes.

“I felt great on court today, usually the more you go on in a tournament the more comfortable I feel and I’m very happy about today’s performance,” Sinner said after reaching the Miami final for a third time in four years.

“I don’t think Daniil felt too well today he made a lot of mistakes he usually doesn’t make.

“For me it is an important tournament if I can get it good, if not I had another great chance.”

Sinner, whose only loss this season was a semi-final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells two weeks ago, becomes the first player this season to reach three finals.

The Italian had Medvedev under pressure right from the gun with three break chances on the Russian’s opening service game converting on a blistering forehand winner for a 2-0 lead.

The third seeded Russian would finally hold serve at 5-1 but only delayed the inevitable as Sinner bagged a high quality opening set without committing a single unforced error.

Baffled and lost for ideas, Medvedev could do nothing to slow the rampaging Sinner who kept his foot firmly on the gas with another break to open the second set that left the world number four staring across the net with a stunned look.