Smooth sailing as Sinner defeats De Minaur for first Masters 1000 title

Jannik Sinner overwhelmed a hapless Alex De Minaur to win his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto on Sunday, claiming the match 6-4, 6-1.

When Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev exited the Toronto Masters prior to the quarter-finals, as well as every other top 10 seed, it became clear that this was Sinner’s tournament to lose.

After twice making the final of a Masters-level tournament but falling short, all eyes were on whether or not the 22-year-old could capitalise on this opportunity to lift his first big title.

Against De Minaur in the final, there were no hiccups for Sinner—it was all class, with the Italian dispatching the Australian for the loss of only five games.

Niggly De Minaur makes first set challenging for Sinner

While the scoreline may suggest this was a cake walk for Jannik Sinner, it was anything but initially.

The Italian broke early and raced out to a 2-0 lead, but was quickly reigned back by De Minaur to 2-2. Again, Sinner broke and held, before De Minaur broke back and levelled the score.

However, constantly playing catch up finally proved too much for De Minaur, who was unable to break back to stay in the first set, going down 6-4.

The opening set was marked by prolonged rallies, with De Minaur initially getting the better of the 9+ shot exchanges. However, with the Australian landing only 51% of his first serve and hitting just the solitary winner, Sinner’s firepower was enough to go up 1-0.

Sinner steps on the gas in set two

When the Toronto final was set, it seemed as though Alex De Minaur was going to be a tough match up for Jannik Sinner.

The 24-year-old had played error-free tennis, and thrived in longer rallies. Perhaps, this style of tennis would combine with the pressure of Sinner being the favourite, and give the Italian issues.

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Things couldn’t have been more different in the second set.

Sinner was playing confident tennis, hitting freely for a total of 14 winners. He even dominated the longer rallies, winning 10-7 in the 9+ shot rallies, and dominated the shorter exchanges 27-14.

After breaking at 2-1, Sinner never looked back, winning eight of the final nine games to emphatically lift his inaugural Masters 1000 title in Toronto.

Promising signs for Sinner ahead of US Open

With the monkey off his back regarding his ability to win big titles, Jannik Sinner couldn’t be better placed heading into the US Open.

The Italian’s big-hitting game is perfectly suited for hard-courts, and many of the other favourites at this year’s US Open have had patchy preparation so far. With Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev losing early in Toronto, and Novak Djokovic not participating, Cincinnati becomes an important week for those looking to grab some momentum.

For Sinner, however, he can relax and play some care-free tennis at the Cincinnati Masters, knowing that he’s already in great nick ahead of the year’s final Grand Slam.

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6-4, 6-1: Facts and stats as Jannik Sinner beats Alex de Minaur to win Toronto Masters

Tennis Majors