By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday April 4, 2021
Jannik Sinner had a shot at becoming the fourth youngest Masters 1000 champion in history but fell short on Sunday in Miami, losing to Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(4), 6-4. Instead he’ll have to settle for being the youngest Miami Open finalist in 16 years and the ninth youngest Masters 1000 finalist in history—not bad at all for the 19-year-old who will rise to No.21 in the world in Monday’s ATP Rankings.
Sinner, who was making his Miami debut and just his third career Masters 1000 appearance, admits he still has a lot of work to do to reach his full potential.
“Obviously there is a lot of work, a lot of things to do,” he said after Sunday’s final, which saw him serve for the opening set before dropping the next six games (if you count the first set tiebreaker).
Sinner says he is enthused about his ability to dictate play and control the court with his weapons, and despite the loss on Sunday, he says he plans to keep working on the same tactical approach.
“Me honestly right now for the next 30, 40 matches prefer to do like this, and then we will see what solution we have,” he said, adding that he was disappointed by the loss and never wants to settle for anything but the best. “I think it has been a good week anyway. But, you know, obviously I’m not here for making finals, you know. I’m here to win tournaments. Today was not my day. Accept that. But, you know, it’s going back to work and then we will see what I can do on the clay.”
Imagine having a highlight reel THIS good at the age of 19 🤯@janniksin #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/DugQ0IQYZI
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 3, 2021
Sinner can take solace in the fact that he was one of the players that came to Miami with the right mindset. He sensed opportunity in a Masters 1000 draw that didn’t feature a single member of the ATP’s Big 3—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic—for the first time since the 2004 Paris Masters.
“I came here with the mentality to win,” he said. “We knew that Rafa, Roger, Novak, Thiem were not playing. I think it was a big opportunity for many players.”
Sinner admitted that he suffered from nerves a bit during the weekend, and it’s not too surprising given the stakes involved.
“When you’re 19 and playing finals here, obviously it’s tough, and I wanted to win,” Sinner said. “I was a bit nervous from the beginning of the match or already yesterday, but, you know, it’s normal, you know, because you really want to win. But today was not my day, and congrats to Hubi.”
Next up the Italian will prepare for the Monte-Carlo Masters, hoping that lessons learned will lead to his next breakthrough.
“Losing the final here for me is not easy,” he said. “But, you know, I was deciding the whole week what to do with the ball. For that time I’m happy. Yeah, today went the wrong way. Today you win or you learn.”