[ad_1]
Grigor Dimitrov reached the final of the Miami Open playing tennis that borders on psycho-physical perfection. Final where he will meet Jannik Sinner, in his third final of the season, after the Australian Open and Rotterdam. It will be a complex final for the young Italian, against an opponent who is showing his best tennis for several weeks.
Darren Cahill analyzed the match a few hours before the start in an interview with Sky Sport, highlighting how Dimitrov could be a very dangerous opponent for Sinner.
“Dimitrov is a different player. He has an old-fashioned game, he is comfortable at the net, he has a very effective slice. Looking not only at this tournament but at the last six months you can see that he has improved a lot. This could be his best tennis ever.
The first serve has improved, the second serve is more reliable, the forehand is more powerful. The backhand has also improved, it is faster and stronger. Like all athletes, if you have confidence the level rises by 5-10%.
And right now he has a lot of it. I’ve always liked Grigor as a tennis player, I like him even more as a person, he’s a good guy off the court.
Seeing him play so well makes everyone happy. Let’s just hope it doesn’t continue like this in the final and Jannik wins,” he explained.
The Australian coach in a certain sense warned the 22-year-old Italian about the dangers of the match.
“There are many problems when facing a player like him. Jannik will have to be like water. He will have to be versatile, move fluidly and he will have to find some holes in Dimitrov’s game,” he said.
Sinner will be called upon to repeat the performance shown in the semifinal with Daniil Medvedev to try to win the Miami Open, for a title in Florida that he has already missed on two occasions.
Grigor Dimitrov is chasing his second ATP Master 1000 title, the last and only of which he won in his career in 2017 in Cincinnati. For the Bulgarian it would be a victory that would undoubtedly reward the work and all the good he is achieving at the start of the season.
Sinner prepares for the challenge with Dimitrov
“It was important to start well today, both in the first and second sets against Medvedev. In the second he served immediately with new balls and I responded very well. The match could have turned in my first set, when he had break points. I’m happy after a performance like that. Sunday’s match will be very different. I’m happy to play another final in Miami,” told Sinner Sky Sport.
“Being number two doesn’t change me that much. It’s much more important to have a great match on Sunday. The main motivation in Miami is to try to win the tournament. It will be the third final for me. It will be an important day against a completely different opponent,” he told.
Sinner then spent beautiful words towards his work team.
“They help me a lot. They help me see things that I don’t see and manage the things that happen both on and off the court. I may seem mature, but in the end I’m still 22 years old. I’m not perfect and I need people like them to help me understand certain things. The player makes the difference on the pitch, but without a team he’s going nowhere,” he analyzed.
“I started really well and I’m happy to have finished the match like this. I feel like I have a lot more solutions now to use on the court. The serve has always been the most difficult shot for me to improve, also because physically I wasn’t ready to do it with this rhythm and with this precision.
We have done a great job in the last year and a half. I changed some things with my team: this was one of the key points. When there are long rallies, as happens against Medvedev – it is important to win the next point thanks to the serve,” told Sinner at the press conference.
“It will be interesting to see what happens in the future, what changes. He definitely made me a better player, because I had to try serve and volley against him in Beijing for example. He’s one of those players that makes you better.
Sometimes he doesn’t count the number of direct clashes but the lesson you learn from some defeats. I’m trying to enjoy the moment. I’ll be playing my third final in Miami on Sunday, which is incredible. I hope I can win another big trophy. The first time I reached the final here I couldn’t sleep at night. Now I’m a different tennis player and a different person,” he added.
Only Carlos Alcaraz has beaten Sinner in 2024: the score is in fact an impressive 21-1.
“I’m surprised, it’s not something I expected. It shows that I’m thinking day after day. You can’t control everything. I’m certainly happy with the season I’m having. Who wouldn’t be? But at the same time I know that the players know me better. They study my game and I will always have to be ready,” said Sinner.
[ad_2]
Source link
