Daniil Medvedev claims 19th title on the ATP Tour as he beats Jannik Sinner to win the Miami Open, a day after it was announced Russian athletes will be re-admitted to Wimbledon
- Daniil Medvedev claimed his 19th ATP Tour title of his career at the Miami Open
- He beat Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner 7-5, 6-3 in Sunday’s final
- It comes as Russian athletes will be re-admitted to play at Wimbledon this year
Re-admitted to Wimbledon and then champion of the Miami Open — it proved an almost perfect 72 hours for Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.
The former world No 1 closed this hard-court segment of the tennis season with a 7-5, 6-3 victory in Sunday’s final against a below-par Jannik Sinner.
The 21-year-old Italian felt dizzy during a match played in punishing heat and humidity, and was unable to disrupt the impregnable baseline game of his opponent, back to similar form that saw him win the 2021 US Open.
Medvedev is back to his best, and is no longer burdened by the thought of being excluded from the All England Club after the ban was dropped on Friday.
About the only downer was the publicly expressed opinion of Petra Kvitova, who won the women’s title by stopping the run of Elena Rybakina, that those from Russia and Belarus should still not be allowed at either Wimbledon or the Olympics.
Daniil Medvedev claimed his 19th ATP Tour title at the Miami Open on Sunday afternoon
He beat Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner 7-5, 6-3 in Sunday’s final in warm temperatures
Russian athletes will now also be able to play at Wimbledon after their re-admission was announced earlier this week
Having lost in the third round of the Australian Open, Medvedev has now won 25 of his last 26 matches, and that sequence includes one over Novak Djokovic, who was barred from entering the United States due to his unvaccinated status.
There can be no arguing that Medvedev looks ready to challenge him again, though he is not usually most comfortable in clay events or on the grass.
This was his 19th career title on the ATP Tour and, somewhat remarkably, in a 19th different city. Afterwards he put it down to preferring the livelier hard courts in Miami, compared to the slower conditions during the previous fortnight at Indian Wells.
Sinner said: ‘I woke up this morning not at my best, I felt a little bit sick, I couldn’t play my best.’
