MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Jannik Sinner, the red-haired Italian who once had dreams of being a ski racer, carved through Daniil Medvedev’s game like an expert skier Friday afternoon, cruising into the Miami Open final with a 6-1, 6-2 victory in just over an hour.

An unusually large crowd for a Friday was at Hard Rock Stadium for the highly anticipated showdown, including some Sinner fans dressed in carrot costumes. A group of Italian fans calling themselves the “Carota Boys” started the fad last year, showing up at matches wearing carrot hats and costumes. Carota is the Italian word for carrot, Sinner has red hair, and was once seen snacking on a carrot during a changeover.

They were delighted with his dominance on a picture-perfect Good Friday.

Sinner, the No. 2 seed, has now beaten Medvedev five times in a row after losing six consecutive matches to the third-seeded Russian. Sinner had most recently beaten Medvedev in the 2024 Australian Open final, a match that went five sets.

The two also faced each other in the 2023 Miami Open final, which Medvedev won, the Russian’s last win over the Italian.

“I played very solid (Friday), especially in the beginning of the sets and I’m just trying to enjoy this moment, for me it’s the third time that I can play the final here in Miami, which is an amazing achievement for me and hopefully I can lift once the bigger trophy,” Sinner said.

He added that he didn’t think Medvedev was in his best form.

“I think Daniil didn’t feel too well today, he made a lot of mistakes he usually doesn’t make, so I just took a chance,” Sinner said. “I was expecting a really tough match, if he breaks me first set or second set it’s much different.”

Medvedev was asked how Sinner has changed from the Miami Open final a year ago. He responded: “He misses less, he chooses his shots more wisely. He serves 10 times better. Jannik was always serving well, but now he serves big, big. I wonder how he did it because the serve is not that easy a shot to work on and his serve is a big improvement.”

Sinner will play the winner of the Friday night semifinal between No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany and No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who ousted top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

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