Sinner sets Masters 1000 straight-sets record in dominant Miami opener
Jannik Sinner (No. 2) defeated Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the 2026 Miami Open. The win gave Sinner a new ATP record of 12 consecutive straight-sets victories at Masters 1000 events, surpassing Novak Djokovic’s mark of 11 set across Indian Wells and Miami 2016.
Jannik Sinner, Miami 2026 | © Imago / PsNewz
Italian world No. 2 Jannik Sinner, the second seed, beat Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-3 at the Miami Open on Saturday evening to set a new ATP record for consecutive straight-sets wins at Masters 1000 level – and still found time to apologise to his opponent after a heckler turned the match briefly chaotic.
Sinner breaks Djokovic’s long-standing Masters 1000 record
The win was Sinner’s 12th consecutive straight-sets victory at Masters 1000 level, moving him past the 11 that Novak Djokovic had strung together across Indian Wells and Miami in 2016. It also extended his run to 24 consecutive sets won at that tier of the game, equalling yet another Djokovic benchmark, and pushed his overall record to 29 wins from his last 31 matches.
For a player who arrived in Miami as the reigning Indian Wells champion, the sense of momentum is difficult to overstate. Sinner is the youngest man to have won every major hard-court title on tour, and a second Miami trophy would complete what the tennis world has taken to calling the Sunshine Double, never seen since Federer in 2017. He knows the venue well. The last time he played here, he left with the title in 2024.
Eight points dropped, 14 net winners: the numbers tell the story
Dzumhur, ranked No. 76, came into the match with some confidence. He had beaten Peruvian Ignacio Buse in the previous round, saving a tiebreak in the second set before running away with the third 6-1. Against Sinner, that form counted for little.
The Italian dropped just eight points on serve across the entire match and won 14 of 17 net points, a figure that reflected a calculated decision to press forward from the very first game. “Starting off with the break straight away, I tried to be a bit aggressive,” Sinner said afterwards. “At times it worked very well. At times I made a couple of unforced errors.”
He was equally measured when asked about adapting to Miami’s conditions after Indian Wells. “I didn’t have a lot of time to adjust here. It’s very different than Indian Wells. The transition game is something I try to improve a lot. It depends a bit day by day.”
A heckler, a supervisor’s verdict, and a gesture of class
The match was not entirely straightforward off the court. A spectator, described by the chair umpire as “the guy with the green shirt”, repeatedly baited play and drew a complaint from Dzumhur mid-match. The umpire, caught between the two players, relayed the situation to a supervisor: “Damir is upset with the guy with the green shirt and Jannik is telling me he’s baiting on the back. I don’t know what we should do. Maybe we could talk to him to relax.” The supervisor’s assessment was rather more direct: “I think he’s just an idiot.”
Security was dispatched. At the net after the final point, Sinner apologised personally to Dzumhur for the disruption – a detail that went largely unnoticed amid the record-breaking headlines but said something about the man as much as the match.
The record, the deflection, and what comes next
When the record was put to him directly – 24 straight sets, level with Djokovic for the ATP mark at Masters 1000 level – Sinner gave the kind of answer that has become his trademark. “The scoreboard matters at times,” he said. “For me I try to improve as a player. Trying to put myself in the position to play as many matches as possible. I always treat every opponent in the same way.”
He will face the winner of the match between Frenchman Corentin Moutet, seeded No. 30, and Czech Tomas Machac in the next round.
