When does Jannik Sinner play in Miami: background with Zverev
The two best seeded among those left in the running will challenge late Friday evening in Italy for a place in the final of the Miami Masters 1000: Jannik Sinner, world number 2 and the seeding in Florida, in fact faces Alexander Zverev, who instead occupies the number 3 position, in a remake of the Indian Wells semifinal last March 14, which saw the Italian win, later also victorious in the final against Daniil Medvedev. In the final, for one of the two, there will be an outsider: on the other side of the scoreboard there are in fact Jiri Lehecka and Arthur Fils.
The very duration of the semifinal between the Czech and the Frenchman will determine the exact start time of Sinner-Zverev: the Sesto Pusteria star and the German rival will in fact take the court no earlier than 10 p.m. and in any case after the end of Lehecka-Fils. Friday night’s will be the 12th direct clash between Sinner and Zverev: the tally, updated just to the Indian Wells event, is seven wins for the Italian and four for ‘Sascha,’ with an open series in Sinner’s favor of six wins in a row between 2024 and 2026.
The very first showdown between the two dates back to the round of 16 at Roland Garros 2020 and saw the then 19-year-old Sinner surprisingly prevail, having to bow out in the next round to a Rafa Nadal who would shortly thereafter win in Paris for the 13th time in his career. Following that result, Zverev took revenge with interest over the next three years, winning four out of four matches: in 2020 in the semifinals in Cologne, in 2021 in the round of 16 at the US Open, in 2022 in the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo, and in 2023 again in Flushing Meadows and again in the round of 16.
Then, however, the inertia totally reversed and Sinner never lost a head-to-head match against Zverev again, beating him in 2024 in the semifinals at Cincinnati, in 2025 in the finals at the Australian Open and Vienna, in the semifinals at the Paris Masters 1000 and in the group stage of the ATP Finals, before his recent success in the semifinals at Indian Wells.
In his career Sinner is seeking title number 26 on the major circuit, as well as a double in the Indian Wells-Miami ‘Sunshine Double’. Zverev, on the other hand, is chasing his 25th final success in a major circuit tournament, his first in Miami where he has played only one final, losing to John Isner in 2018.
