As Jannik Sinner glided to his left to slide a magisterial backhand into a space where there was no space, Grigor Dimitrov’s expression, part disbelief, part creeping resignation, signalled the Miami Open final was over.
Of course, Sinner’s shot, magnificent as it was, did no more than seal the opening set; in theory, anything was still possible. Indeed, no one could have done more to push the boundaries of possibility than Dimitrov has over the past week or so, the 32-year-old claiming back-to-back wins over Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev to secure a return to the world’s top 10 for the first time since 2018.
But Sinner deals in certainties rather than potentialities these days, and when he pulled off that wonder shot, everyone knew where the contest was heading. Twenty minutes later, the 22-year-old sealed a 6-3, 6-1 victory to clinch his third trophy of the season, following his maiden grand slam title at the Australian Open and last month’s victory in Rotterdam, and on this evidence there will be plenty more to come.
Sinner has prevailed in all but one of his 23 matches this year, a three-set loss to Alcaraz in Indian Wells the only blemish on an increasingly outstanding record. With his latest triumph, Sinner overtook the Spaniard to become the new world No 2, burnishing his position as the highest-ranked Italian in history. For all his growing list of achievements, however, nothing impresses more than the lightness with which Sinner wears his success.
“Being No 2, it’s an amazing feeling,” said the Italian. “I never thought to come to this point. I come from a very normal family. My dad is still working, as [is] my mum, too.
“For me, sport is one thing, and life is different. I’m very happy to be in this position. I’m just enjoying every moment. These are special days, winning a tournament. Doesn’t matter what kind of tournament, it’s a special day. It means a lot to me.”
This was the Sinner’s third Miami Open final in four years and, having lost the previous two, he joked beforehand of making it third time lucky. Luck, however, had nothing to do with it. With the benefit of hindsight, Dimitrov’s challenge effectively ended after just 14 minutes, when he fired an inside-out forehand millimetres wide on what would prove to be his only break point of the afternoon.
The Bulgarian had been ticking over nicely up to that point, blasting big forehands and even bigger serves, knifing sliced backhands, going to toe-to-toe with Sinner in the baseline exchanges. But the Italian broke in the next game, producing a sensational lunging return off a 129mph serve before following up with a hammer-like forehand pass, and from there it was one-way traffic.
“You never know, if I would have broken him in that game, how the match would have turned out,” said Dimitrov, who will rise to ninth in the world on Monday. “But also, he’s a frontrunner. If he’s up a break, I think his confidence kicks in even a little bit more. He starts playing a little bit more loose and free.
“I think he’s been able to do that not just now, not just today, but every single match, to play with that level. I think that’s probably one of his biggest weapons right now. From the baseline and all that, I like my chances. I can rally with him. I felt fairly comfortable. But on a few occasions, clearly he put me in a very bad position, and he was able to take the initiative.
“He’s been able to do that amazingly throughout the whole time of the match, for a couple of sets, with less mistakes, good first serves, good returns, puts a constant pressure.”
It has been very much the story of Sinner’s season so far. He has always been a thunderous ball-striker, but the improvements he has made to his serve and physicality have transformed him into a serial champion. Heading into the clay-court swing, he leads the ATP race and stands just 1,015 points shy of Novak Djokovic in the rankings. No one should be surprised if he takes the final step in the months ahead.