(Tennis news) Sinner made sure he wouldn’t experience final heartbreak once more against de Minaur despite losing his last two Masters 1000 title matches in Miami in 2021 and 2023. He broke the Australian’s serve five times to become just the second Italian Masters 1000 champion since the series’ inception in 1990, joining Fabio Fognini (Monte-Carlo 2019).
“It means a lot. It is a great result,” Sinner said. “One I can share with all the people who are close to me every day. It is a nice moment to share with them and we are doing the right things. This result makes us feel good, stronger and hungry to work even harder in the future.”
Since then-20-year-old Alexander Zverev won the trophy in 2017, the 21-year-old is the Canadian Masters 1000’s youngest champion. Sinner’s victory also increased his Masters 1000 record for 2023 to 18-4, and he joined Andrey Rublev as the season’s second first-time winner of the tournament.
“I am proud] how I handled the situation. Every opponent here is tough to play against,” Sinner said. “I felt the pressure, but I think I handled it very well. Trying to play point after point. Treating everyone with respect on the court, so I am happy with how I handled the situation.”
With victories over Matteo Berrettini, Gael Monfils, and Tommy Paul in Toronto, as well as against de Minaur on Sunday, Sinner cemented his fourth-place finish in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin. The eight-time tour-level champion participated in the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals in his country as an alternate.
De Minaur presented a brick wall to Sinner’s ball-bludgeoning throughout the chaotic first performance in front of a crowded audience. De Minaur demonstrated his defensive prowess to occasionally force Sinner to overhit as he entered the final with a steal score of 46.5%, significantly higher than the tour average of 33.5%.
But once the score was tied at 4-4, the Italian improved his depth and accuracy, outmanoeuvring the Australian to secure the fifth and final break of the set to take the lead.
Sinner continued on without turning around to look. To go to 5-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against the Australian, he attacked with too much power for De Minaur and began to clean the lines with his ruthless groundstrokes. He sprinted away in the second set.
Prior to this week, De Minaur had never advanced past the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 competition. The Australian, who dropped the Los Cabos title match last week, defeated seeds Taylor Fritz, Cameron Norrie, and Daniil Medvedev to advance to back-to-back tour-level finals for the first time in his career. As a result of his performance in Toronto, De Minaur moved up five spots to 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin.
“It was a breakthrough week for me,” De Minaur said. “I had a nice week here in Toronto. I played some great tennis and it gave me a taste of it. My maiden [Masters 1000] final and I will be back.”
Also read: Jessica Pegula defeats Iga Swiatek
