Sinner superb on serve to reach fourth Miami quarter-final

Italian Jannik Sinner, the second seed, beat Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Miami Masters at the Hard Rock Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The win sees Sinner improve to 19-1 in 2024, having won two titles and only lost once to Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells. The 22-year-old is now into his fourth consecutive Miami Open quarter-final, as he looks to go one step further this year after making the final in 2023.

“It was tough to play against him. He’s a great player,” said Sinner of the match after his victory over O’Connell. “It was a little bit windy and breezy, so I think we both had to adjust a little bit.

“He started off really well, and I went down a break very soon, so it was tough also mentally. But you have to accept these kind of challenges. I was looking forward for those.”

“I tried to stay really solid, he made a couple of mistakes in important moments. I think that was really key.”

Sinner overcomes quick start by O’Connell

O’Connell made a fast start in his attempt to claim what would be the biggest victory of his career, breaking Sinner at the first opportunity and moving ahead 2-0.

Sinner then systematically wore the Australian down, winning the longer rallies and being competitive on O’Connell’s serve. Break point came and went on both of his next two service games, with O’Connell doing well to fend them off and maintain his advantage in the opening set.

Inevitably, O’Connell caved under Sinner’s relentless pressure and the Italian went on a four-game streak to claim the first set 6-4, having been behind 4-2 at one stage.

In the second, it was all one-way traffic. Sinner grabbed the early break and never looked back, at one stage winning 19 consecutive points on serve as he sealed the set 6-3 to move into his fourth consecutive quarter-final at the Miami Open.

The Italian ended with a healthy 21 winners to just seven unforced errors, while O’Connell’s numbers slid across the match, ending at 14-17 overall.

Sinner, ranked No 3, will face Tomas Machac next.

The 22-year-old Italian won against qualifier Andrea Vavassori (6-3, 6-4) and Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, the No 25 seed (5-7, 7-5, 6-1) ahead of his victory.

In the previous rounds of the Miami Open, O’Connell, ranked No 66, won against qualifier Vit Kopriva (6-2, 6-4), American Frances Tiafoe, the No 21 seed (7-5, 7-6 (5)) and American wildcard Martin Damm (7-6 (5), 7-6 (5)).

Miami Masters 1000, other round of 16 results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 10,404,205):

• Nicolas Jarry (22) beat Casper Ruud (7): 7-6 (3), 6-3
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Dominik Koepfer: 7-6 (5), 6-0
• Tomas Machac beat Matteo Arnaldi: 6-3, 6-3
• Alexander Zverev vs. Karen Khachanov
• Alex De Minaur vs. Fabian Marozsan

• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Hubert Hurkacz
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Lorenzo Musetti

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