World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to claim his second ATP Miami Masters 1000 title, adding it to his recent Indian Wells triumph.
Sinner navigated rain delays before and during the match to complete the “Sunshine Double,” becoming the first man since Roger Federer in 2017 to sweep the elite hard-court tournaments in California and Florida and the first ever to do so without dropping a set.
The Italian, who won Miami in 2024 but missed last year due to a three-month doping suspension, has now captured three consecutive Masters 1000 titles, starting with his Paris victory last year.
"It's a very, very special moment," Sinner said. "Coming here, performing again in a very good way after Indian Wells means a lot to me. It's something I never would've thought I’d win because it's difficult to achieve."
Sinner's victory, coupled with Aryna Sabalenka's triumph over Coco Gauff on Saturday, marks the first time the Indian Wells-Miami sweep was achieved on both the men’s and women’s sides since Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka both did it in 2016.
It also allowed Sinner to gain on Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, who was upset in the third round, in the race for the world No. 1 ranking as the clay-court season approaches.
Early showers delayed the match for more than an hour. Sinner had just pocketed the first set when the rain returned, halting play for 90 minutes.
It wasn’t enough to unsettle Sinner, who fired 10 aces and won 33 of 36 points when he landed his first serve.
His return game was also sharp, as he handed 22nd-ranked Czech Lehecka his first service break of the tournament for a 2-1 lead in the opening set.
Sinner trailed 0-40 in the following game but fired three service winners and two aces to hold.
"I tried to be focused," Sinner said. "I tried to understand why I missed the first serves before. In the beginning, the conditions were very different, very, very heavy balls. I missed a couple of first serves in the net because they were quite heavy."
He added that Lehecka's aggressive return game demanded precision.
"You have to hit very precise. If not, he has it on the racquet," Sinner said.
Sinner converted his advantage with a first-set point in the ninth game, hitting a blistering cross-court forehand service return winner. Lehecka saved that point with a service winner and another set point with a volley, holding on his sixth game point before Sinner closed the set with a love game.
Lehecka fought off five more break points before Sinner secured the lone break of the second set for a 5-4 lead, capitalizing on a loose forehand from the Czech.
Sinner didn’t face a break point in the second set and earned match point with a forehand volley winner, though a serve called a let delayed it momentarily. He closed out the match with another net winner.
While Lehecka, playing in his first Masters 1000 final, couldn’t follow compatriot Jakub Mensik into the Miami winner’s circle, he will reach a career-high No. 14 in the world rankings on Monday.
"I came here with not good form and I was able to come back to the tennis that I want to play," Lehecka said at the trophy ceremony.
