Alex de Minaur needed a few days to find his bearings at the National Bank Open since his busy schedule caused him challenges.
He is now on a roll and nothing seems to be able to stop him.
De Minaur cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Saturday and reached the final of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career.
“I said to myself that I wanted to fight every point, no matter what happened,” said de Minaur. It’s important to stay positive and not let frustration take over. »
“I know that I give myself a better chance of winning when I manage to keep a good frame of mind. I think that’s why I won today. »
The Australian ranked 18th in the world will face Jannik Sinner in the final on Sunday. The seventh-seeded Italian defeated No. 12 American Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
De Minaur arrived in Toronto on Monday night, having made the final in Los Cabos, Mexico on Sunday afternoon. He didn’t have much time to rest and prepare to play doubles later on Monday. He then played his first singles match on Tuesday.
“I didn’t play my best tennis at the start of the week,” de Minaur said. The sensations weren’t good, but I told myself to keep working. »
During the week, he knocked down 11th seed Cameron Norrie, Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo, No. 8 Taylor Fritz and then No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals.
“It always gives confidence when you have good runs,” said de Minaur. But the work is not finished. I still have the final to play. »
De Minaur broke Davidovich Fokina’s serve on his first chance and kept the pressure on his rival for the 77 minutes of the game.
Davidovich Fokina committed 22 unforced errors, while de Minaur only four.
“The conditions were very difficult for both players,” said de Minaur. It did not allow us to offer perfect tennis. »
In the evening, Sinner and Paul exchanged breaks of service at the start of the match. Sinner then used his power from the bottom of the field to prevent Paul from dictating the exchanges.
The American received treatment to his lower back or right hip early in the second set. He suffered a service break in the next game.
Trailing 2-4, Paul got three break points, but he was unable to take advantage of them. Sinner saved a break point by winning a 46-shot rally that got the crowd drunk.
Sinner, who will be in his third Masters 1000 final but has never won one, has won each of his previous four encounters against de Minaur.
For his part, Davidovich Fokina had overcome Casper Ruud, No. 3 in the world, and Alex Zverev, No. 13, en route to the semi-finals. The 37th-ranked player in the world, however, made too many mistakes to bother de Minaur.
“I was constantly late,” said the Spaniard. My legs weren’t moving. I didn’t want to give up, but it was weird. It was a really bad day at work. »
De Minaur finally suffered a broken serve late in the second set, but immediately responded by breaking his rival’s serve.
He improved to 32-16 in 2023 and will have the opportunity to claim a second trophy this year – and in his career – after triumphing in Acapulco with a victory over Paul in the final.
Sinner will climb to sixth in the world with a win over de Minaur, which would be a high for him. He is 40-11 this season and won a title in Montpellier, France in February.
