Sinner reaches the tenth 1000 final of his career
(Gaia Piccardi) The light suddenly came on at the end of the short finishing training session. The hand on the back, resting on the (delicate) lower back. The team that gathers around him: coach Cahill visibly frowning (the reunion with Simone Vagnozzi is expected in Miami), the physio Resnicoff who touches him as if to put his hands on him. End of warm-up. Jannik Sinner leans against the net of the secondary court of Indian Wells, bends his back to test it. Everything seems fine. The field will tell.
And the (central) field of the first Master 1000 of 2026, shortly after, confirms it. There is little match between the n.2 in the ranking and the German Sascha Zverevwho had the wonderful – but unrealistic – idea of conquering the tournament and overtaking Novak Djokovic in third place in the rankings. But if Zverev hasn’t beaten Sinner since 2023 (now Italy-Germany 7-4), since the hard-fought round of 16 of the US Open which led the Italian to give up the Davis Cup group which he would have won in Malaga for the first time at the end of the year, there is a reason (more than one). And indeed in the Indian Wells final, against the winner of Alcaraz-Medvedev, the pink panther of Sesto Pusteria goes: on Sunday evening, for the first time in the season, he will fight for an ATP title.
Zverev opens with four firsts. There is no exchange. Sinner holds at 15: he doesn’t seem to be in pain, there’s no alarm. The body-machine is efficient, the tennis that emerges from it is immediately productive. Very little is played until 2-2, then the match suddenly catches fire in the hot sun. Zverev offers a break point: the German’s forehand – the usual forehand – is in the corridor. 3-2 Sinner, who takes off with the complicity of a foul opponent (7 free at the end). It’s not enough. There is a second break: 6-2 thanks to a backhand from Zverev who takes off towards Palm Springs, the desert town nearby.
The German is in a prolonged break, with a double fault he hands himself over to Jannik, who however hits the forehand. Zverev cancels three break points, holding on to serve. But it is an illusory balance, as in the first set, fueled by the heat which perhaps advises Jannik to move with caution. The feeling is that escape is only a matter of time. Coming out of service, Zverev continues to leave the game in the hands of the Italian, his percentages on the second serve remain mediocre (25% of points won in the first, 30% in the second) but it is Jannik who drops the pace for a moment, perhaps due to the heat. The break point at 3-2 – it will be the only one of the whole match – is canceled out by a first one at 217 km per hour. There’s time for a nice short ball-lob volley combination, and it’s 3-3. It’s time to break the inertia. On the wave of six points to one, Sinner gets two break points. The first one is enough: long backhand from Zverev. Sinner’s music deafens the German. 4-3, 5-3, 6-3 in 1h23′.
Indian Wells was the only outdoor hardcourt Master 1000 final he missed (and it is the 10th of his career). «After three semi-finals here, I made it. This is the tournament I missed the most last year, when I didn’t come. I’m happy. The tactical plan was to be aggressive on the return, changing the waiting position of his serve.” He hasn’t lost a set, in California he is rebuilding all his certainties.