Jannik Sinner (ATP No. 2) won the Miami Open after defeating Czech Jiri Lehecka (No. 22) 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the American Masters 1000 tournament. This victory, which also earned him the Sunshine Double (following his win in Indian Wells two weeks prior), further cemented his place in tennis history.
In a closely contested match, the key to victory lay in the serve of the multiple Grand Slam champion. With ten aces and a 92% first-serve percentage, he gave his opponent little chance. Lehecka saved nine of the eleven break points he faced and squandered three break opportunities early in the match, which was interrupted for an hour and a half by rain.
The Italian became the eighth player to win both tournaments on the Sunshine Swing, and the first to do so without dropping a set, following Jim Courier (1991), Michael Chang (1992), Pete Sampras (1994), Marcelo Ríos (1998), Andre Agassi (2001), Roger Federer (2005, 2006, and 2017), and Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, and 2016).
On the other hand, the protégé of Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill emulated Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (1st), who had also triumphed in California and Florida by defeating Elena Rybakina (2nd) and Coco Gauff (4th) in the finals, respectively. This made them the fourth doubles pair in history to win the Sunshine Double in the same season, following Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf in 1994, Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters in 2005, and Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka in 2016.
As if that weren’t enough, the 24-year-old from San Candido joined Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the only players in the history of the circuit to win three or more consecutive ATP 1000 tournaments after triumphing in Paris (2025) and Indian Wells (2026).
The former world number one also boasts a 12-match winning streak at the Florida tournament since his 2014 title, considering he didn’t participate last season due to a three-month suspension following an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The now 26-time world number one added his seventh Masters 1000 title and is second on the all-time list for players born in 2000 or later, surpassed only by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz (8).
On his way to the title, the reigning Wimbledon champion had to defeat Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur (76th), France’s Corentin Moutet (33rd), Americans Alex Michelsen (40th) and Frances Tiafoe (20th), and Germany’s Alexander Zverev (4th) to reach his second final of the season.
Regarding the battle for the number 1 spot with the driver from Murcia, there’s still a gap of just over 1000 points, exactly 1190, between them. However, in the last two weeks, the difference has narrowed considerably, and they’re now separated by only 50 points in the standings.
