Jannik Sinner, the winner of the Australian Open, defeated Tomas Machac 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday to win his 20th match of 2024 and advance to the Miami Open semifinals for the third time in the previous four years.
Second-seeded Sinner will play third-seeded Daniil Medvedev in a replay of the Miami Open championship match from the previous year. Although Medvedev prevailed in that match, he has now dropped four straight.
In a late match, Medvedev defeated No. 22 seed Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 7-6 (7) to go to their most recent meeting.
Sinner improved to 20-1 overall after making it to his fourth final four of the season. In 2021 and 2023, he made it to the finals of this competition but lost both times.
Sinner remarked, “I was happy about the performance, but it was a really tough match.”
According to Sinner, 22, Machac made a good first impression and his aggressiveness kept the score close for a while. However, Sinner carried on his incredible run, breaking his opponent’s serve four times to advance to the following round.
“It’s easy to play tennis when everything feels good on the court,” he remarked. “However, it must begin with a practice session when you’re not feeling well. Practice can still be beneficial in this situation.
“I feel really good on the court right now,” he said.
In the women’s draw, No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula was defeated 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 by 14th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova, who had earlier defeated top-seeded Iga Swiatek. Alexandrova qualified for her first-ever Miami Open semifinal appearance.
Alexandrova remarked, “I think it’s like the biggest achievement for me today on this court, and semifinal is a big bonus.”
Alexandrova’s opponent is Danielle Collins, who won 6-3, 6-2 over Caroline Garcia, the 23rd seed.
For the first time since she qualified six years ago, Collins will compete in the Miami semifinal round on Thursday.
Garcia had just defeated Naomi Osaki and Coco Gauff, the winners of the Grand Slam, in back-to-back matches. However, the streak ran out against Collins, who required just 80 minutes to progress after winning 10 of the 11 sets this season.
Against Garcia, Collins improved to 4-0 in her career; Garcia never faced a break point during the contest. Collins played down his impressive performance.
Collins remarked, “When facing someone like Caro, it makes me more focused because I know I don’t want to give her an inch.”