Jannik Sinner upsets top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz at Miami Open

MIAMI, March 31 (UPI) -- Italian Jannik Sinner dropped his first set, but came storming back to upset top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz in a men's semifinal at the 2023 Miami Open on Friday in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Sinner converted 6 of 12 break point opportunities in the 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 victory inside Hard Rock Stadium. The No. 11 player in the world fired five aces, registered four double faults and totaled 27 winners in the 3-hour, 1-minute match.

"I just tried my best," Sinner told Tennis Channel. "In the third set I saw him struggle a little bit for a couple of games so I tried to push there.

"We both tried to play very aggressive tennis and today it went my way, so I'm very happy."

Sinner will battle No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in the men's final Sunday in Miami Gardens.

Alcaraz is expected to drop to No. 2 in the rankings after holding the top spot since March 20. He previously held the No. 1 spot for 19-consecutive weeks in 2022.

Serbian Novak Djokovic, ranked No. 2, will likely overtake Alcaraz on Monday, when new ATP Tour rankings are released.

Alcaraz and Sinner broke each other twice in the first set of Friday's semifinal. Alcaraz went on to close out the set with a 7-6 win in a tiebreak.

Sinner broke the Spaniard to start the second set, but Alcaraz broke back in the fourth game to tie the set 2-2. Sinner held in the eighth game to tie the set at 4-4. He then broke Alcaraz and held in the final game to win the set and tie the match.

Sinner broke Alcaraz twice in the final set and held all of his serves down the stretch to clinch the upset victory. He won match point with a powerful forehand return, which flew past Alcaraz's reach.

Medvedev beat fellow Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3 earlier Friday to clinch the first spot in the men's final. He will battle Sinner at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.