No icing on the cake in Miami: Sinner loses the final

Jannik Sinner competed in a Masters 1000 - which is the highest tournament series after the Grand Slams - in Miami for only the third time in his very young career. The fact that he made it to the final was in itself a big surprise. However, the icing on the cake, i.e. the crowning glory in the form of tournament victory, was denied to the Sesto native: he had to admit defeat to Hubert Hurkacz 6:7 (4), 4:6.

Nevertheless: For Sinner, the trip to Miami was a huge success. Only Andre Agassi (1000), Rafael Nadal (1990) and Novak Djokovic (2005) reached the final of the Masters 2007 in Florida when they were teenagers. Later they were all at number 1 in the world rankings. The 19-year-old youngster from South Tyrol is still some way away from that, but hardly anyone in the tennis world now doubts that he definitely has what it takes. Sinner has made a step forward in the ATP rankings and has advanced from position 31 to 23rd. Sinner with many mistakes, but huge fighting spirit On Sunday evening, Sinner had a tough fight with Hubert Hurkacz, whom the Puster native describes as his best friend on the ATP tour, in which the young South Tyrolean showed a game with two faces. On the one hand, you could tell he was nervous and he made too many unforced errors throughout the match. On the other hand, in the final he repeatedly showed his class, but above all his great fighting spirit. In the second set, for example, he was behind 0:4 (and a break chance to make it 0:5 against himself), but fought back to 4:5. However, he was no longer able to turn the set around - Hurkacz simply served too hard for that.

Hubert Hurkacz won his first Masters tournament. © APA/getty / MATTHEW STOCKMAN

In general, this Hurkacz, 24 years old and from Wroclaw, Poland, is in outstanding form. Despite being “only” 37th in the world rankings, he eliminated players like Andrey Rublev (number 8 in the world), Stefanos Tsitsipas (5), Denis Shapovalov (11) and Milos Raonic (19) on his way to the final in Miami . Now he can look forward to the first Masters tournament victory of his career and 16th place in the world rankings. Crucial point and catching up For Sinner, the final match didn't start as expected in windy conditions: after just eleven minutes he was 0-3 behind. The Pole's hard serves gave the youngster trouble, and Sinner gradually bit his way into the match and got the break back in the fifth game. Now the South Tyrolean was fully into the race and played really good tennis. When the score was 5:5 he even grabbed another break and served to win the set. But now, of all times, the 19-year-old played the worst game of the day and lost without scoring a point. That was the sticking point for Sinner, who had to give up the tie-break (and thus the set) and initially couldn't find his way at all in the second section.

In Miami, Sinner and Hurkacz delivered a thrilling finale. © APA/getty / MATTHEW STOCKMAN

Hurkacz promptly got two breaks and moved ahead to 4-0. When the Pole also had two break chances in the game, the game seemed to be finally over for Sinner. But once again the young tennis star from the Puster Valley amazed everyone. He fended off both break chances and fought his way back in an impressive manner. Hurkacz now became increasingly nervous, also because from his point of view it was suddenly only 5:4. But then the Pole served to win the set – and got his service through. The biggest success in “Hubi” Hurkacz’s career so far was over.

There is no time for Jannik Sinner to take a breather. The next Masters tournament is now on the agenda for him, namely the one in his adopted home of Monte Carlo. This starts next Sunday.

You can read the whole match in our live ticker.

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No icing on the cake in Miami: Sinner loses the final

Just reaching the final at the Masters 1000 tournament in Miami was a sensation for Jannik Sinner. In the final he had to admit defeat to his good friend Hubert Hurkacz.

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