Carlos Alcaraz lost more than a 10-match winning streak when he fell 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals of the Miami Open on Friday.
The top-seeded and defending champion Spaniard also will lose the world’s No. 1 ranking to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic when the new ratings are released on Monday.
Sinner, an Italian who is seeded 10th, moves on to a championship matchup against fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
Alcaraz was coming off a title run in Indian Wells, Calif., and he had a 21-set winning streak before Sinner leveled the Friday match by claiming the second set.
Alcaraz, who lost his serve in the first game of the second set, again was broken in the first game of the third set. Sinner erased the only break point he faced in the final set to seal the victory.
“It means a lot,” Sinner said of the win. “We both played a very, very high level of tennis again. I just tried my best. In the third set I saw him struggle a little bit for a couple of games, so I tried to push there. … We both tried to play very aggressive tennis and today it went my way so I’m very happy.”
Earlier Friday, Medvedev powered his way into his fifth consecutive final by smacking 13 aces during a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 victory over fellow Russian Karen Khachanov.
It is the second-longest such streak of Medvedev’s career, topped by reaching six straight finals in 2019.
“I have some margin,” Medvedev said after winning for the 23rd time in his past 24 matches. “It is a pity it is clay season after (this tourney), but I am going to try. I am really happy with my results so far but it is not over. Final on Sunday and I have to be at my best to try to win it.”
Medvedev will face either top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain or 10th-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy in the final. Those two men square off Friday night.
Medvedev’s lone loss during the hot streak was against Alcaraz in the final at Indian Wells.
“I know I am capable of winning big titles,” Medvedev said. “I know I can play well and beat anybody.”
Medvedev recorded 37 winners against 21 unforced errors while receiving a battle from the 14th-seeded Khachanov before prevailing in two hours and 17 minutes.
Medvedev needed to win a tiebreaker to take the first set and Khachanov bounced back with a 3-0 start in the second set en route to evening the match.
Medvedev won three straight games to take a 4-1 lead in the final set and cruised from there, improving to 4-1 all-time against Khachanov.
“I managed to play well,” Medvedev said. “He had one bad game in the third set, I managed to take it and I am really happy to be through. It was a very tough match.”
Khachanov delivered 53 winners against just 11 unforced errors. He had seven aces.
–Field Level Media
