A clinical start by Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev during Saturday’s first men’s semifinal inside Stadium 1 hinted at a potential dogfight.

In the end, Sinner was best in show by a mile.

The Italian took control of proceedings midway through the first set and sailed to his sixth consecutive victory over Zverev, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the final here for the first time.

“Third time lucky, I guess,” a smiling Sinner told the sun-baked crowd after his win.

Skies were blue and temperatures balmy as the pair traded blows in front of a switched-on crowd, but it was Sinner's cool demeanor and shrewd tennis that made the greatest impact.

The Italian’s tactical nuance was on display early as he broke the pattern of easy holds and made good on his first break point opportunity of the day, taking a 3-2 advantage 16 minutes into the contest.

Zverev in conflict

It was a deflating moment for Zverev.

The No. 4 seed has publicly stated his goal of playing more aggressive tennis this season, but at times he has appeared to be a player stuck between two mindsets.

“He’s fighting his instinct to play conservatively,” said Jim Courier, who commentated the match for Tennis Channel, of Zverev. “Sascha Zverev is at war with himself.”

The dominoes fell quickly from there: Sinner’s decision to vary his return position seemed to deny the German comfort on serve. The lack of comfort quickly spread to his ground game, as several errors helped Sinner take a double-break lead at 5-2.

Moments later, when the German sailed a backhand well long, Sinner had wrapped up the opener in 31 minutes.

Zverev held his own in the second set but couldn’t put his nose in front. When another backhand sailed long in the seventh game, the Italian had all he needed to close the books in rapid fashion.

A 138 mph ace gave Sinner his first match point of the day, and it was all he would need. The crowd, featuring American legend Andre Agassi and pop megastar Dua Lipa, roared its approval as the World No. 2 closed the victory in 83 imperious minutes.

A serial winner on hard courts, Sinner will bid to complete the full six-pack of Masters 1000 titles played on the surface in Sunday’s final against either two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz or Daniil Medvedev.

The 24-year-old reaches his 34th career final and becomes the first Italian men’s finalist in tournament history. Now 15-3 overall at Indian Wells, Sinner will bid for his first title in the California desert on Sunday.