Second-seeded Jannik Sinner is on the verge of capturing ‌the "Sunshine Double" after beating third-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the semifinals of the Miami Open on Friday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Standing in the way of the Italian will be No 21 seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic, who registered six aces and swept past ⁠Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Only seven men's singles players have completed the Sunshine Double – winning the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open consecutively. Sinner will attempt to join Jim Courier (1991), Michael Chang (1992), Pete Sampras (1994), Marcelo Rios (1998), Andre Agassi (2001), Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017) and Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016).

Sinner amassed a 15-5 edge in aces and didn't serve a double fault against Zverev, who double-faulted five times. Sinner saved both break points he faced as he advanced to the Miami final for the fourth time. He won the title ⁠in 2024 but lost in the championship match in 2021 and 2023.

"Coming here, ⁠trying to produce some good ⁠tennis, that was my main goal," Sinner said. "Standing here again, in the final, means very, very much to me."

The victory was Sinner's seventh straight head-to-head vs. Zverev.

"Today has been ⁠a tough encounter," Sinner said. "He played some ‌incredible tennis, so I was serving very well in the end, especially in the crucial moments. I am very happy and it means a lot to ‌me."

Lehecka will play in a 1000-level final for the first time. It will be his seventh overall championship match, ⁠and he won two of the previous attempts.

Lehecka, 24, hasn't lost his service even once while excelling in his five Miami Open matches. He is the first player to reach a 1000 final without being broken since Djokovic did so in Shanghai ‌in 2018.

"It feels great. It's definitely something I've been working towards the whole year and the whole preseason," Lehecka said of his strong play. "I really trusted my game and the work I put in. It didn't matter when, but I knew it would come and today was a nice example of how ⁠I want to ‌play. I executed it well, so I'm very happy with today's ‌performance."

Lehecka had 16 winners against 14 unforced errors in the 75-minute semifinal victory over No 28 Fils. He won 27 of 33 first-serve points (81.8 percent).

Lehecka is 0-3 in his career against Sinner entering the Sunday showdown.

"Of course I'm very excited that I'm in a final. It was definitely one of my goals," Lehecka said. "I'm just trying to do ⁠what I do best, and I definitely enjoy being on a court like this. So I'm trying to live in the present and we will see how it goes on Sunday." (Reuters)



Edited by Robert Kemp