"Daniil Medvedev should've never yawned in Jannik Sinner's face" "AO was more than deserved" - Fans react to Italian's emphatic Miami Open SF win

Tennis fans were astonished after Jannik Sinner annihilated Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of the 2024 Miami Open.

On Friday, March 29, Sinner, who was defending his Miami Open runner-up finish from last year, scored a formidable 6-1, 6-2 victory against defending champion Medvedev in what was their 11th meeting on tour. The Italian thus improved his head-to-head against the Russian to 5-6, having won all five of their recent meetings.

Interestingly, the 2023 Miami Open final was Jannik Sinner’s most recent defeat to Daniil Medvedev. Since then, the 22-year-old has won three finals against his rival – the 2023 Beijing Open [7-6 (2), 7-6 (2)], the Vienna Open [7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3], and the 2024 Australian Open [3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3].

Sinner also got the better of the Russian in the semifinals of the 2023 year-end championships [6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1].

As evidenced by scorelines, none of those victories came easy to the World No. 3. Tennis fans were thus stunned when Sinner demolished Medvedev in just over one hour in their 2024 Miami Open semifinal.

One fan highlighted that on the women’s side, Elena Rybakina and Victoria Azarenka’s semifinal decider lasted longer than the duo’s entire match.

"Time of the third set of the semifinal between Rybakina and Azarenka: 1h 15m. Time of the whole semifinal match between Sinner and Medvedev: 1h 09m," the fan wrote on X.

Another fan jokingly alluded to Jannik Sinner avenging his 2021 ATP Finals loss to Daniil Medvedev. In Turin, the duo was competing in a dead match with Sinner already out of the title contention. This prompted the Russian to yawn in the Italian's face during the clash. The gesture did not sit well with tennis fans at the time.

"Med should have never yawned in Jannik's face. This is also Karma," the fan wrote.

"Jannik at 80-90% of his form is by far the best tennis player in the world at the moment. He confirmed beyond any doubt that his AO [Australian Open] title against Daniil was more than deserved," another fan said.

Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans:

---

"Daniil Medvedev's a player who made me a better player" - Jannik Sinner after Miami Open SF

Daniil Medvedev (L) and Jannik Sinner (R) pictured after their 2024 Miami Open semifinal

Following his 2024 Miami Open victory over Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner reflected on how the duo’s match-up has shaped up over the past year. The 22-year-old also said that he is curious to see how their rivalry flourishes in the future.

"It's going to be interesting to see now in the future what's happening, what's he's gonna change, where I have to be very clear with my mind," Sinner said in his post-match press conference.

The Italian, who trailed Medvedev 0-6 in their head-to-head until the 2023 Beijing Open, also credited the former World No. 1 for making him a better player.

"For sure he's a player who made me a better player, because, you know, I had to, for example in Beijing, I started to serve and volley. Then in Vienna I tried to serve and volley but it was not working again," he recounted. "So here I had to be very careful on couple of things."

"But, you know, these kinds of players, they make you a better player. It sometimes doesn't really matter the head-to-head, but it matters how you understand from your losses and trying to learn," he added.

Jannik Sinner who is 21-1 for the season, will now vie for his third title this year as he takes on Grigor Dimitrov in Sunday’s Miami Open final.