Indian Wells: Yannick Sinner beats Daniil Medvedev to equal Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic’s feat
It was Sinner’s first title of the year, having ended his Australian Open title defense in January in a thrilling five-set semi-final against Djokovic.
Sinner also extended his head-to-head record with Medvedev, winning nine of the past 10 meetings.
Despite the loss, Medvedev will move back into the top 10 when the rankings are updated on Monday.
The former U.S. Open champion nearly missed the tournament, being stuck in Dubai due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Upon arriving in the United States, Medvedev showed why he had previously ranked at the top of the men’s game with an impressive victory over world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.
However, Sinner used his imperious serve to emerge victorious in a tense moment on Sunday.
Sinner scored 43 points out of 47 on his first serve, hit 10 aces, and scored 60% on his second serve, continuing to dominate the game.
Medvedev saved the only two break points of the final and took a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak, nearly forcing a third set.
However, Sinner scored seven straight points to end the match and win his 1,000th consecutive Masters title without losing a set.
On the other hand, world No. 3 Djokovic withdrew from this week’s Miami Open due to injury.
The Serbian great has won the title six times, finishing runner-up to Jakub Mensik last year.
However, the 24-time Grand Slam champion said a right shoulder injury would rule him out of the hard-court tournament starting on Monday.
