Italian seventh seed Jannik Sinner secured his first Masters 1000 title with a dominant 6-4 6-1 win over Australian Alex de Minaur in the Canadian Open final on Sunday.
Sinner, appearing in his third Masters 1000 final after runner-up efforts at the Miami Open in 2021 and this year, broke De Minaur five times and saved two of four break points to lift the biggest title of his career.
The 21-year-old Italian, who enjoyed a run to the Wimbledon semi-finals last month, felt his ability to deal with pressure-packed situations helped him to navigate past De Minaur.
Sinner lost a pair of Masters finals in Miami in 2021 and last April but could not contain his enthusiasm after storming past his Australian opponent in 90 minutes.
The player who turns 22 on Wednesday improved to 12-0 versus Australians dating to the 2021 US Open.
“I’m getting used to the difficult situations,” the winner said. “Twice in the first set I was up a break up and he broke back.
“But I stayed calm mentally, I was prepared for a long battle.
“I’m happy with how I reacted. In the second set I played better and tried to be more aggressive.
“It was tough today with the wind, I’m happy with my level today,” the Wimbledon semi-finalist said. “This makes you feel like you are doing the right thing.”
Sinner played well from the start and showed few nerves as he flashed his weapons and took more risks than De Minaur, who struggled to come up with winners.
The two friends, who lost in the first round of the men’s doubles here earlier this week, twice swapped breaks in a tight opening set before Sinner held and then closed out the frame with a break at love.
Sinner took control in the second set when he consolidated a break for the first time all match to move ahead 4-1 and then broke again before closing out the 90-minute encounter on his serve to improve to 5-0 all-time against De Minaur.
“It means a lot,” Sinner said of the win. “When you work hard such a result can help you, and in your mind it makes you feel like you are doing the right things with your team and I am happy to share this with all the people who are close to me every day.”
(With inputs from Agencies)
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