Jannik Sinner's three-word message to rising F1 star after historic Miami win

Jannik Sinner celebrated his Miami Open final victory by paying tribute to close friend and fellow Italian Kimi Antonelli after his Japanese Grand Prix win earlier in the weekend. The Mercedes driver secured P1 in Suzuka and despite a rought start, claimed back-to-back Formula One race wins with Sinner taking a moment to celebrate the success of Italian sports stars.

Following his 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Jiri Lehecka in the Miami Open final, Sinner signed a camera with the message: "Bez, Kimi, Italia." The 24-year-old was asked about Antonelli after the recent success of Italy in individual sports which also saw him reference Moto GP star Marco Bezzecchi, who is also from Italy, after he won in the US on Sunday.

When asked on Sky Sports about the weekend's success for Italians, Sinner said: "Also in MotoGP italy won so it is definitely a great moment for Italians and I'm happy to be part of it. Sinner's triumph in Miami also saw him complete the Sunshine Double after winning Indian Wells earlier this month and he has since claimed he can still get better.

On that topic, he added: "It is tough to say, we do many hours in practice sessions, the dedication and the sacrifice is very high. Performing myself and being confident on court just makes me happy as a person. I have a great team behind me who pushed me in some tough moments and we try to have a great attitude on court and it has been an amazing couple of tournaments."

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He had earlier stated: "I felt like I was serving really well, especially at important moments, when I was getting a bit tired, that's been an aspect we've worked quite a lot on, so I'm very happy for a great result. Today, the conditions were very different and I struggled to go through the ball, but look a final is always different, you have more tension, but I'm very happy to get this one."

The Monte-Carlo Masters is up next in the tennis calendar with Sinner looking to further close the gap to Carlos Alcaraz in the ATP rankings. The 24-year-old was suspended when the 2025 edition took place while Alcaraz is looking to defend his crown after winning on clay last year.

Arguably, Antonelli is one of few athletes having a better 2026 than Sinner with the 19-year-old winning Grand Prix's in China and Japan to take an early lead in the drivers' championship rankings. Their own busy schedules often means Sinner and Antonelli are on opposite sides of the world to each other but they did meet up at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix back in December.

The previous month, Antonelli was in his home country for Sinner's Nitto ATP Finals 2025 winner. The teenager may opt to visit his friend again with the F1 season taking an unexpected break with the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix's being cancelled due to the ongoing Middle East conflict.