Jannik Sinner made ATP Masters 1000 history on Monday evening, when he rolled to a clean 6-1, 6-4 win over Corentin Moutet at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
With his no-nonsense third-round victory inside Hard Rock Stadium, the Italian has won 26 consecutive sets at the Masters 1000 level and passed Novak Djokovic for the most ever, which had been set at 24. Sinner had matched that mark with his victory in the second round on Saturday in Miami before surpassing it in the third round.
“I’m super happy,” Sinner said after his victory. “This sport is unpredictable, so we try to stay attentive as much as we can and let’s see what happens in the next round.”
The streak for Sinner dates back to last November at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he won the title in a run without dropping a set. He carried that form into March, when he duplicated the feat at the BNP Paribas Open. Sinner, who won in Miami twice now has 13 straight Masters 1000 matches under his belt.
There were few signs against Moutet that the 24-year-old’s streak was in jeopardy. Sinner dictated the rhythm of the matchup with a powerful serve, winning 87 per cent (33/38) of his first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats. He also cut loose off both wings, struck 23 winners to Moutet’s 11 and never afforded the Frenchman any chance to find his rhythm in the match.
Sinner’s one-hour, 11-minute victory improved the Italian to 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series and extended his winning streak against left-handed players to 21 matches.
“It’s Ben [Shelton], Tien, Shapovalov, Moutet,” Sinner said. “I don’t want to forget the other players but we do try to prepare in the best way possible, trying to be tactical and as perfect as possible.”
The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will next take on Alex Michelsen in the fourth round on Tuesday, continuing his pursuit of becoming the first man to accomplish the ‘Sunshine Double’ since Roger Federer did so in 2017. Michelsen beat Alejandro Tabilo 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round against the Italian.
For Sinner, there is more at stake this fortnight than yet another triumph in Miami. With his great rival Carlos Alcaraz falling to Sebastian Korda on Sunday in the third round, the Italian is now perfectly placed to cut into his battle with the Spaniard for World No. 1, as Sinner isn’t defending any PIF ATP Rankings points in Miami.