Toronto, Canada, 13 August 2023 | Matt Trollope

Toronto, Canada

Alex de Minaur’s breakthrough week in Toronto came to an end with a loss to Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s  final.

The Australian fell 6-4 6-1 to the Italian, who clinched the first ATP Masters 1000 title of his career.

Sinner improves his record to 5-0 against De Minaur, who managed to hit just three winners past his more powerful opponent.

https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1690844871311958016?s=20

Nevertheless, it was a memorable week for De Minaur, who before arriving in Toronto had never been beyond the last 16 of an ATP Masters 1000 event.

He beat consecutive top-10 players (Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev) at the same tournament for the first time in his career and advanced to his second straight final, after reaching the title match in Los Cabos last week.

He become the first Australian to appear in a Canadian Masters final since Pat Rafter in 2001, and as a result of that run, he will hit a career-high ranking of world No.12.

“A huge congratulations to Jannik. You deserve it; the way you carry yourself on and off the court, I’ve got tremendous respect for you,” said De Minaur to Sinner, whom he paired with in doubles earlier this week in Canada.

“It was a breakthrough week for me, a very nice week here in Toronto. Played some great tennis. Gave me a taste of my maiden (Masters) final, and I tell you what, I’ll definitely be back for more.

“It’s a journey, it’s step by step. And I will get there.”

Team decision…forget about this week's doubles 😆#NBO23 @janniksin @alexdeminaur pic.twitter.com/1xH2xJdDaW

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 13, 2023

De Minaur made things tricky for Sinner in the opening set, twice recovering from a break down to lock scores at 4-4.

But Sinner’s pace of shot – his groundstrokes averaged almost 20kph faster than De Minaur’s – gradually wore the Aussie down.

He won eight of the final nine games, serving and returning strongly and picking his moments to attack the net. De Minaur won just 46 per cent of his first-serve points, and less behind his second serve.

De Minaur nevertheless remains one of the form players in this North American summer hard-court season, winning 10 of his 13 matches so far.

He next heads to the Cincinnati Masters tournament, where he begins his campaign this week against American JJ Wolf.

Aussies in action – Toronto

RESULTS
Men’s singles, final
[7] Jannik Sinner (ITA) d Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-4 6-1

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