Jannik Sinner needs one more victory to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2017 to complete tennis’ ‘Sunshine Double’ after beating Alexander Zverev in straight sets to reach the Miami Open final.
The world No. 2 defeated world No. 4 Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) and will meet 21st seed Jiri Lehecka in Sunday’s final. Lehecka reached his first Masters 1000 final by dismantling 28th seed Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-2 in just 75 minutes.
Sinner, who claimed the Indian Wells title on March 15, has now won a remarkable 32 consecutive sets at Masters 1000 events. He served 15 aces against Zverev, saved a break point when trailing 4-3 in the second set and extended his winning streak over the German to seven matches after also beating him in the Indian Wells semi-finals earlier this month. After the win Sinner said: “Coming here and trying to produce some good tennis was my main goal. Standing here again in the final means very much to me. It has been an incredible swing and I couldn’t be better. I’m very happy.”
Sinner is also bidding for a second Miami Open crown in three years; he was unable to defend the title in Florida in 2025 while serving a three-month ban following a positive test for a banned substance.
Lehecka arrives in the final full of confidence. He has yet to be broken in the tournament and would move to a career-high No. 12 in the rankings with a title. After his dominant win over Fils he said: “Today was a great match. Definitely brought me a lot of confidence going into the Sunday final. I must say that it was one of the better matches that I played in my life. 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.”
Pundits praised Lehecka’s display. Martina Navratilova commented: “Lehecka looked like a veteran and played his best tennis under pressure. It was a really, really impressive performance.” Tim Henman added: “Lehecka’s level never dropped. I was waiting for there to be some loose shots but it never materialised. Fils said ‘I’m trying as hard as I can, I’m trying on every shot’ but Lehecka was too good.”
If Sinner completes the sweep he would become the eighth man to achieve the Sunshine Double — winning Indian Wells and Miami in the same season — joining Federer (three times), Novak Djokovic (four times), Andre Agassi, Marcelo Rios, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang and Jim Courier. On the women’s side the double has been completed four times, most recently by Iga Swiatek in 2022.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka will face Coco Gauff in the women’s final. The Miami Open runs until March 29.