Match Report
Sinner quicksteps closer to ‘Sunshine Double’ with dominant Miami QF win
World No. 2 eases past home favourite Tiafoe to reach last four
March 26, 2026
Rich Storry/Getty Images
Jannik Sinner in action against Frances Tiafoe on Thursday in Miami.
By Andy West
Jannik Sinner continued his perfect March in style on Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings raced past home favourite Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 6-2 to seal his semi-final spot at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Florida. Sinner broke his opponent’s serve in the opening game on Hard Rock Stadium and hardly looked back from there en route to an emphatic 71-minute triumph.
Even by Sinner’s standards this is ridiculous! 🧙♂️@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen | @janniksin pic.twitter.com/e896ZyQXuu
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 26, 2026
“I feel like starting the match is very important,” said Sinner. “When you start by going a break up, it gives you already a slightly good confidence. At the same time, they might be very aggressive, so I try to stay as compact as possible with my shots. Also mentally, there can be some ups and downs on both sides, so I try to stay very calm and take the chances I can get. I think today, that was the key.”
Sinner dropped just nine points on serve en route to Thursday’s victory, which he finished with an overall Performance Rating of 9.65 (well above the ATP Tour average of 7.29) according to TDI Insights. At times, the Italian appeared to stun even the usually raucous home crowd into relative silence with the overwhelming quality of his display.
Sinner, who is aiming to become the first man to complete the coveted ‘Sunshine Double’ of winning Indian Wells and Miami Open in the same year since Roger Federer in 2017, will take on third seed Alexander Zverev or 18th seed Francisco Cerundolo in the semi-finals. The 24-year-old has now reached the semi-finals in four of his five Miami appearances.
“To be hungry [for more success], I think is quite natural,” said Sinner after his 10th consecutive match win. “Mentally you have to stay calm and be relaxed also off the court, because I played a lot of tennis in the past three or four weeks with all the practice sessions and everything. I’m trying to keep going. I know this is my last tournament on hard courts before going on clay, so I’m very happy to make the semis again.”
Most Miami Men’s SF Appearances
Sinner did not take long to exert his authority on his first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Tiafoe since the 2024 Cincinnati Open final. The Italian bulldozed his way to the opening set with a near-flawless performance featuring plenty of clinical clean hitting.
With plenty of vocal support from his team, Tiafoe regained his composure admirably to ward off more danger in the opening game of the second set. The red-lining Sinner carved out another break point, but the American held firm to earn himself an early foothold.
Sinner was not to be denied for long, however. The Italian continued to bring the power from the baseline and ultimately converted his third break point of his next return game. Given how the second seed was serving, that appeared to be a decisive breakthrough, and he went on to drop just one more game before completing his win.
