Sinner On Five-star Qf Set At Hard Rock: ‘miami Has Been Good To Me’

Jannik Sinner has made a habit of hanging around for the business end of the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Since reaching the championship match on event debut in 2021, the 24-year-old has racked up a 22-3 record at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Florida, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. On Tuesday, Sinner overcame Alex Michelsen 7-5, 7-6(4) to seal a quarter-final spot, and simultaneously became the third man to reach the last eight in all of his first five Miami appearances, alongside Yannick Noah and Stefan Edberg.

“It’s tough to say,” said 2024 titlist Sinner in his post-match press conference, where he was asked for any insight as to why he has thrived over the years in Miami. “The earlier times when I played here, I also played a little bit on outside courts. Outside it’s very different. There is a lot of breeze and wind at times. Playing here [in the stadium] is slightly easier, because it blocks it a bit.

“The ball is bouncing quite low, which usually helps me. This year I’ve found it a little bit more difficult for some reason. I am also trying to enjoy whatever is around, off the court. Miami for sure has been very good to me in the past years.”

The way Sinner kept his cool even as Michelsen served for the second set at 5-3 inside Hard Rock Stadium on Tuesday was typical of the Italian, as was the way he elevated his level in the subsequent tie-break to clinch his straight-sets win and extend his record streak of consecutive sets won at Masters 1000 level to 28. Sinner has now won 15 of his past 16 tie-breaks in tour-level matches dating back to the start of his Wimbledon title run last July.

“I’m someone that likes to play tie-breaks, or at 4-4, 5-5,” said Sinner when asked about his consistent excellence in pressure moments. “I try to raise my level in the most important moments and that for sure helped me today… I’m very happy that I managed to win today.

“I tried to return as much as I could [at 3-5]. I’ve also been in positions where you have to serve out. Serving out the set is always a little bit different. You can feel the pressure. That’s for everyone, me too, when I need to serve out. Also, sometimes you can just miss balls, and if he wins that game, things can turn out differently. Obviously in the third set you start from 0-0 again and you need to start over again. Today was good for me, from a physical point of view, to get away with two sets.”

The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Sinner will face another home favourite on Thursday in pursuit of a fourth Miami semi-final appearance. He will enter his quarter-final clash with 19th-seeded Frances Tiafoe with a 4-1 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.