Italian Jannik Sinner halted unseeded Emill Ruusuvuori’s campaign at the Miami Open presented by Itau, claiming a 6-3, 6-1 victory in one hour and 15 minutes. Next, he could face either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or ninth seed Taylor Fritz for a place in Sunday’s final.
In his on-court interview, he outlined: “We both played well today, but I won the important points. It’s never easy when you are up and you get interrupted, but I came back and played well.”
As the Match Unfolded
It was a balanced start to the opener, with the 23-year-old Finnish adding pressure over Sinner for the first time in the fourth game, forcing the Italian to save a break point to hold his serve, setting level at 2-2.
The Italian quickly shut the door, converting his first break point, and held after an 11-shot rally to take a 4-2 lead.
Under a menacing grey sky, the tenth seed extended his lead to 5-3, showcasing a solid performance.
Then, he produced a double break to close out the first set 6-3 in 36 minutes.
The Italian force won 92 percent of the first serve points on it, while Ruusuvuori won 67 percent on his.
In addition, he fired eight winners to six unforced errors.
In the second set, the 2021 runner-up displayed great consistency, hitting his trademark flat and aggressive groundstrokes, breaking his opponent’s serve to open a 2-0 advantage.
And it was then that the rain entered the Stadium, forcing to suspend play after 47 minutes with the score tied 15-15 in the third game of the second set.
When play resumed, Sinner extended his lead to 3-0, marching to wrap up the set 6-1 and the match.
The 7-time ATP titlist arrived in Miami off the back of a nearly flawless campaign in Indian Wells, which saw him dropping just one set in the quarterfinals before falling in the last four to eventual champion Alcaraz.
The San Candido was in action for the first time this season in Miami on Friday, moving past World No. 58 Laslo Djere, and on Sunday, he defeated 21st seed, Grigor Dimitrov.
Furthermore, on Tuesday, the 21-year-old made it through the last eight at the event for the third consecutive year, taking out sixth seed Andrey Rublev with a 6-2, 6-4 win after one hour and 12 minutes without facing a break point.
At the Open Sud de France, staged last February in Montpellier, France, Sinner notched his first title in 2023 by overcoming American Maxime Cressy.
The Rotterdam finalist awaits to meet his last four adversary; in case Alcaraz outs the home favorite, Fritz, a rematch of the BNP Paribas Open semifinal final will decide who becomes the first player to advance to the championship match.
For his part, and despite losing to the World No. 11, Ruusuvuori enjoyed a stunning run, becoming the first player from Finland since 2013 to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
He moved past Portuguese Nuno Borges, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, and Japanese Taro Daniel without dropping a set.
En route to his clash against the Italian player, the World No. 54 shined bright, winning a three-set thriller against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
Previously in Indian Wells, he advanced to the third round, falling to 12th seed Alexander Zverev, his best result into the 2023 season ahead of his appearance in Florida.