Sinner and Gauff advance with ease as Miami Open nears closing weekend

Italy's World No. 2 Jannik Sinner cruised into the ATP Miami Open semifinals on Thursday, while American fourth seed Coco Gauff powered her way through to the women's championship match.

Sinner dominated the USA's 19th-seeded Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 6-2, with the four-time Grand Slam champion from Italy advancing in 71 minutes at Hard Rock Stadium, the home venue of the NFL's Miami Dolphins.

The second seed, hoping to complete a "Sunshine Double" with March titles from Miami and Indian Wells, stretched his ATP Masters 1000 set winning streak to 30, having not dropped a frame at the level since last October in Shanghai.

"I started off very well, was serving very good in really important moments so that for sure helped me," Sinner said. "Very happy about today's performance."

Gauff overwhelmed the Czech Republic's 13th-seeded Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-1 to reach Saturday's women's final.

The reigning French Open champion set up a rematch of last spring's Roland-Garros title tilt against top-ranked Miami Open defending champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who brushed aside second-ranked Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3.

Rybakina had beaten Sabalenka in January's Australian Open final, before the top seed avenged that defeat in the Indian Wells final. And the Belarusian has now picked up a second-straight head-to-head victory, extending her series lead to 9-7, as she looks to clinch a "Sunshine Double" of her own on the WTA Tour.

The Kazakh, seeded third despite rising to second in the world after her run to the Indian Wells title match, was the runner-up in Miami in 2023 and 2024, but must now wait at least another year to lift the trophy for a first time.

Sinner will next face World No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany, who swept past Argentina's 19th-ranked Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, 6-2. The other men's semifinal contest features the Czech Republic's 21st-seeded Jiri Lehecka going up against France's 28th-seeded Arthur Fils.