Jannik Sinner had no difficulties defeating Alex De Minaur and clinching biggest title of his career at the National Bank Toronto Open with a score of 6-4, 6-1.
The Italian tennis player finally put an end to a challenging streak of the past two years, consistently reaching the final stages of major tournaments but falling short of capturing the big titles.
This year, he had made it to the semifinals at Indian Wells, Monte-Carlo, and Wimbledon, as well as the final of the Miami Open. However, he had only secured one title earlier in the year at the ATP 250 Montpellier Open in February.
Facing him was Alex De Minaur, a surprise finalist who had defeated Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on his way to the final.
The start was hesitant for both players; Sinner grabbed an early break in the second game, which De Minaur promptly countered in the next. A similar pattern emerged when Sinner went up 4-2, yet De Minaur managed to break back once again.
With the score at 5-4 and De Minaur serving, Sinner secured a decisive break to take the first set.
The second set witnessed Sinner's absolute dominance, as De Minaur struggled to counter his opponent's aggression. After both players held their service games to reach a 1-1 score, Sinner stepped up his game and won five consecutive games, including two more breaks, ultimately securing the final with a score of 6-4, 6-1.
Sinner exhibited a much higher level of aggression, tallying 14 winners compared to De Minaur's 3. However, he also committed more unforced errors with 16, while De Minaur only had 4.
With this outcome, Sinner guaranteed his rise to world No. 6 in the rankings starting Monday, entering his next tournaments—the Cincinnati Open and the US Open—with utmost confidence, as he is considered one of the top contenders in both events.
In Cincinnati, he will play on Wednesday against the winner of the match between Francisco Cerundolo and Dusan Lajovic.
On De Minaur's side, despite the defeat in the final, he will achieve a career-best ranking of world No. 12 on Monday. The 24-year-old tennis player is set to make his debut in the Cincinnati Open tomorrow, facing Jeffrey John Wolf.
Italy's Jannik Sinner wins his first Masters 1000 title, defeating Australia's Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1 in Toronto after losing two previous M1000 finals in Miami Sinner, age 21, up to new career-high 6 in ATP rankings & will be a major threat at the #USOpen if he stays healthy
