TORONTO: Jannik Sinner came up third time lucky in a Masters 1000 final on Sunday as he won the Toronto title 6-4, 6-1 over Alex de Minaur.

The seventh seed became only the second Ital­ian to lift a trophy in the elite series, following Fab­io Fognini, champion at Monte Carlo four years ago.

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.

Sinner will rise to sixth in the world as a result of his Canadian success.

Sinner tried and failed twice in the opening set to hold onto breaks, only to drop serve in the following game to the Aussie.

But the Italian found form just in time, firing an ace to lead 5-4 and finished off the set in 54 minutes on his first opportunity as on his opponent’s error.

The second set was one-way traffic for Sinner, who closed out victory on his second match point.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2023