Medvedev-Sinner rematch; Collins, Alexandrova settle women’s Final Four

by Daniel Perisse

History repeats itself. One year ago, Daniil Medvedev defeated Jannik Sinner to win his first Miami Open title. Since then, the Italian has won all four other clashes, including the 2024 Australian Open. On Friday, these two players will be facing off again, now for a place in the men’s singles final at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Medvedev currently holds the advantage in the head-to-head by six wins against four from Sinner, but the 22-year-old Italian has won the last four matches – including the final in Melbourne. The last time Daniil prevailed was at the Magic City.

This Wednesday, Sinner ended Tomas Machac’s dream run with a 6-4, 6-2 victory in the quarterfinals.

The Czech had defeated Andrey Rublev, the fifth seed, and former World No. 1 and two-time Miami Open champion Andy Murray.

Sinner started the match by breaking Machac’s serve, but he broke back in the following game. The Italian was able to break again in the seventh game and that helped him secure the first set.

“I started well with the break. Then he broke me immediately back. You know, then after was challenging for him but also for me. But when I won easy the first set, then after I felt a little bit freer to hit the ball, and I think that made the difference today,” explained the No. 2 seed.

In the second set, breaks on the third and fifth games gave the World No. 3 the necessary lead to clinch the second set and a semifinal spot.

Sinner has reached his 20^th win of the season and will play his third Miami Open semifinal:

“Today I felt like I was playing better than the previous rounds, which for me was what I was looking for. Let’s see in the next round what’s coming and what I can do.”

As for Medvedev, he ousted Nicolas Jarry from Chile 6-2, 7-6(7) in one hour and 41 minutes.

Medvedev was not intimidated by Jarry’s strong serve and dominated the first set by breaking him in the fourth and eighth games.

Both players held their serves during the second set, which led to a tie-break. Jarry had a 4-3 and a 5-4 lead, but it was Medvedev who had the first match point, serving at 6-5 and losing it in an unforced error.

The World No. 4 had another match point at 7-6, but Jarry tied with an ace.

Medvedev finally clinched the victory in the third set point, back serving, with another error from the Chilean: 9-7.

The last two quarterfinals of the women’s draw were also played today. Opening the Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla. native Danielle Collins crushed France’s Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-2.

Backed up by her three previous wins against the No. 23 seed, Collins played a perfect match from the beginning and broke Garcia’s serve in the eighth game of the first set. She served following that and secured the lead in 36 minutes, in her third set point.

Following the break, Collins served and had three match points to clinch her victory, in 1 hour and 20 minutes, and reach the second WTA 1000 semifinal of her career – the previous one was also in Miami, in 2018.

“It was a good tournament for me overall, I leave Miami with a lot of positive things and feeling confident. I’ve had a couple of complicated months, so my team and I are already happy and proud. Today was not what I wanted, but she was just better and sometimes you must try at another time,” commented Garcia, who defeated Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff en route to the quarters.

The American is now 14-7. So far, she has only dropped one set during her 2024 Miami Open run.

“Right now, I’m timing the ball well. I think I have made some physical adjustments too that’s kind of helped me be able to kind of control my shots more and hit them with more accuracy and precision. I have been working on that for a while,” explained Collins.

Next up for Collins is Ekaterina Alexandrova. One day after defeating World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the Round of 16, now the No. 14 seed overcame Buffalo, N.Y. native Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“It was extremely difficult for me because she played amazingly. In the third set, sometimes I couldn’t understand how it was possible to return that ball, but it always came back, and I just tried to play every single point. She was everywhere, so I needed to do something. I was just trying to wait and use any opportunities that I got,” said the 29-year-old, who will play only her second WTA 1000 semifinal – the first one was in 2022, in Madrid.

Check the Miami Open website for more information about the order of play and the draws.