Aussie Open champ Sinner to face Medvedev in Miami Open semis

Sheffield United relegated after Newcastle rout

Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner won his 20th match of 2024 to reach the Miami Open semifinals for the third time in the past four years with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Tomas Machac on Wednesday.

Sinner, seeded second, will now face No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals after the Russia beat No. 22 seed Nicolas Jarry later on Wednesday.

The showdown with Medvedev will be the fourth final four of the season for Sinner, who moved to 20-1 overall. He reached the finals of this event in 2021 and 2023, losing both times.

"It was a really tough match, but I was happy about the performance," Sinner said.

Sinner, 22, said Machac served well early on and his aggressiveness kept things close for a while. But Sinner continued his fabulous run, breaking his opponent's serve four times, to move on to the next round.

"I always say when it all feels good on the court, it's easy to play tennis," he said. "But it has to start off in a practice session when you don't feel well, but you still have to practice and this can make the difference.

"At the moment, I feel really good on the court," Sinner continued.

Defending Miami champion Medvedev will represent another tricky test as the Russian has been in imperious form in the tournament, reaching the semis without dropping a set.

He was pushed hard in the second set of his encounter with Chilean Jarry but came through in the tiebreak, clinching on his third match point.

"The first set I feel like I was playing a good level, nothing like extra, and it was enough to win," Medvedev said.

"Tough rallies and tough points. He served better and it was a matter of a few points on the tiebreak, like it is sometimes in tennis... Happy that I managed to win."

Medvedev looked ahead to a great challenge against Sinner.

"He's playing better and better. He's confident. Even some matches I watch on TV and he's in a little trouble he manages to find solutions and that's what champions do," Medvedev added.

On the women's side, 14th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova followed up her win over No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek with another top-10 victory, taking down No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Alexandrova earned her first trip to a Miami Open semifinal.

"I think it's like the biggest achievement for me today on this court, and semifinal is a big bonus," Alexandrova said.

Alexandrova will face Danielle Collins, who defeated No. 23 seed Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-2.

Collins will play in the Miami semifinal round on Thursday for the first time since she made it as a qualifier six years ago.

Garcia had come off consecutive wins over Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaki and Coco Gauff. But the run fizzled out against Collins, who has won 10 of 11 sets in this tournament and needed just 80 minutes to advance.

Collins moved to 4-0 in her career against Garcia, who never had a break point in the match. Collins downplayed the dominant showing.

"Against someone like Caro, it forces me to be more concentrated, because I know I don't want to give her an inch," Collins said.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.