Jannik Sinner gives an ominous insight into his mindset as he lifts Miami Open title
Jannik Sinner gave a glimpse into his winning mindset as his remarkable start to the year continued with a crushing victory over Grigor Dimitrov in the Miami Open final.
Sinner backed up his wins at the Australian Open and Rotterdam Open with a third title win this year in only his fourth tournament of 2024, with the level of his performances continuing to rise to staggering levels.
Dimitrov has been in the form of his life at the age of 32 and he confirmed as much with crushing wins against Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev en-route to this final against Sinner.
Yet the Bulgarian has no answer to Sinner’s brilliance, as he was blown away by a player who is operating at a different level to the rest of the ATP Tour right now.
Hitting huge winners from the back of the court with relentless consistency, Sinner is close to unplayable when he is firing and he admitted in a revealing Sky Sports Tennis interview that he is in a glorious zone as he heads into the European clay court season.
Sinner will now replace Carlos Alcaraz as the No 2 player in the world and his new rankings high may well be a prelude to him rising to No 1 and ending Novak Djokovic’s reign as the king of men’s tennis before the end of the year.
“It has been a very special week for me,” said Sinner. “I have faced very different situations on the court, different opponents. I was full of energy today.
“I’m very happy to now be number two 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.”
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He was then asked by tennis legend Martina Navratilova what it feels like to be playing such dominant tennis and he offered up some telling comments.
“From the end of last year until now I have been very consistent,” he continued. “The way we practise is making me stronger and I am in the zone. Let’s see how long it lasts.
“What does this feel like? You anticipate your opponent’s game a little more and I was very, very focused this week to try and understand what is happening in important moments.
“You have to forget the past. If you start thinking I’ve won this or I’ve won that, it’s not going to help you.
In his on court speech, Sinner offered up platitudes to his team, as he also thanked Miami Open tournament director James Blake and his team.
“This result is such a huge pleasure to share with my team, my family and all the people watching at home,” he added.
“The atmosphere has been amazing throughout the whole 10 days. This is one of the most special tournaments for me.
“It’s good to be back here and I hope to see you all back here again next year.”
Sinner’s rise to No 2 in the world will see him become the first Italian player to reach that lofty position in the ATP rankings, but he will now have his eyes on going one better.
On the evidence of what we have seen from this dominant champion over the last few days, no player – including Novak Djokovic – will be able to live with Sinner if he maintains his current level of form.
