Men’s final preview

By Harvey Fialkov / Staff writer

Why Sinner? The Italian doesn’t like to discuss it, but he’s one match win away from becoming the eighth man to win Indian Wells and Miami in the same season for the arduous Sunshine Double, but first since Roger Federer in 2017. Sinner has seemed unbeatable on hard courts, and has now extended his record to 32 consecutive sets won at his last three Masters 1000 events, including titles in the Paris Indoors and Indian Wells. Sinner is 3-0 against Lehecka without a loss of a set, however, the Czech said on Friday that he’s playing the best tennis of his life after dismantling powerful Frenchman Arthur Fils.

KEY STATS: Sinner is attempting to become the first man to win the Sunshine Double without dropping a set. He could become the third man to win three or more consecutive Masters 1000 events, joining Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. At 4-5 in the second set against Alexander Zverev Friday, Sinner hit 16 consecutive first serves, mostly at 129-mph. He is 24-3 in this event, with one of the losses a retirement, but he has lost finals to Daniil Medvedev (2023) and Hubert Hurkacz (2021).

KEYS TO WIN: Sinner is a master at absorbing pace and redirecting warp-speed groundstrokes, which Lehecka has been ripping on his easy-power forehand. Sinner hinted in his press conference Friday that a final has a different feel with more nerves involved. Sinner has won four Grand Slams, 24 titles, including six Masters 1000 titles. This is Lehecka’s first Masters final and his best Major results were quarterfinal  berths in the 2025 US Open and 2023 Australian Open.

SINNER QUOTE: “I try to perform in the best possible way in every event. Obviously, bigger events I like to play more. I’m very happy to play one more final in Miami. It has been an incredible place since the first day I’ve been here and I played some great tennis in the past. On Sunday it’s going to be a very tough match. I looked at the date ahead of me. He’s a very tough opponent. He played incredible tennis throughout the whole week here, so he doesn’t have anything to lose.”

Head-to-head: Sinner leads 3-0 (two on hard)

Jiri Lehecka is into his first Masters 1000 final and is 0-3 against world No.2 Jannik Sinner, but the Czechian has been playing the best tennis of his career.

Why Lehecka: This is his first career Masters 1000 final and fifth ATP Tour final. He has won two titles: 2025 Brisbane and 2024 Adelaide. He has yet to drop his serve in his five matches in Miami. After No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out by Sebastian Korda in the second round, the draw opened up for Lehecka, whose only opponent ranked lower than No. 38 (Arthur Fils) was No. 7 Taylor Fritz. If he wins he would be the fourth Czech to win Miami, including Ivan Lendl (1986, ’89), Miloslav Mecir (1987) and Jakub Mensik (2025). Mecir played for Czechoslovakia before the countries merged with Slovakia and became Czechia.

KEY STATS: Lehecka has saved all nine break points that he’s faced in five matches and if he holds his serve without a break in the final, he would become the fifth Masters1000 champion to win the title without a service break. Novak Djokovic was the last to do it in 2018 in Shanghai. Lehecka is 0-2 against Top 2 players but did beat Carlos Alcaraz in three sets in the 2025 Doha quarterfinals when the Spaniard was No. 3. If he wins, it would be the first time two Czechs would win back-to-back Miami Opens since Lendl and Mecir (1986-87). Lehecka will rise in the ranks from No. 22 to No. 14 if he loses and No. 12 if he wins.

KEYS TO WIN: He must continue his spectacular serving and his aggressive ground strokes in an effort to take some time away from Sinner, who could be fatigued after a month of winning Indian Wells and reaching the final here. Lehecka has been blistering his return of serves, so he must take advantage of Sinner’s second serve.

LEHECKA QUOTE: “I know that there is still room for some improvements, and that’s what we will be focusing on in the next weeks, months. I will need to play a good match. It will be a different match, because there will be a different opponent. So, the tactics will most probably be different than [Friday’s], and my approach to that match will be different.”