Indian Wells: Jannik Sinner faces Daniil Medvedev in the first California final

Sinner has won 21 of his 24 titles on hard courts, and looked at his best as he raced to victory in an hour and 23 minutes.

The 24-year-old is aiming to become the third man – after Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – to win all six ATP Masters 1000 titles on hard courts.

“It was a great performance – very strong from behind the pitch. I tried to shoot and I felt that was one of the keys,” he said.

“He has a strong serve so I tried to manipulate him. For my part, I was very precise and the performance was strong.

“I thought the match would be more physical but when both of them are serving well it’s difficult to get into our rhythm with short points.”

Sinner has endured a frustrating start to 2026, failing to reach a single final before this event, but has been inspired as he attempts to correct that record.

The psychological damage occurred in the first set as the Italian, who has won seven times in 11 meetings, wasted only four points on his serve and was broken twice.

Zverev struggled to find his rhythm on serve in the first set and Sinner made him pay, winning six of eight second service points.

The 28-year-old German held on to save three break points in the first service game, but was eventually broken to fall behind 4-3 with the rest of the match remaining on serve.