Dropping a lone set en route to his first-ever final at Masters 1000 level, unseeded Alex de Minaur became the first Australian player to reach the championship match at the event since 2001, taking by storm World No. 37 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-3 in 78 minutes on a breezy Saturday afternoon in Toronto.
The Acapulco reigning champion addressed the matchup, remarking: “It was a very tough day. Very tricky conditions out here. Very windy and not easy to play tennis, so from the first point, I just told myself to stay positive. I was going to try and win every point, try to be solid, and not expect perfect tennis. I think that made the difference today.”
The 24-year-old continues to build upon momentum with consistency, making the most of a run of form that led him into the final on Canadian soil, taking big names in the process, such as the likes of Briton Cameron Norrie, eight seed Taylor Fritz, World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev on Friday before knocking out Davidovich Fokina.
In that regard, the Sydney native outlined: “[I’m proud of] bringing out the level that I knew I always could and being able to back it up, day after day.”
Adding: “That’s been one of my goals, to stay consistent and keep bringing this level, give myself chances to play in the deep ends of tournaments. To play against the best in the world and go toe to toe with them.
“I gave myself that chance this week, I’ve taken that opportunity, and tomorrow I get to play another final.”
Meanwhile, the Spanish player delivered high-quality tennis across a dream week at the tournament, reaching the second ATP Masters 1000 semifinal of his career, a first on the hard courts.
However, the 2022 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters runner-up could not match the top performances that saw him oust third seed Casper Ruud, 2023 Hamburg champion Alexander Zverev, and American Mackenzie McDonald on his way to the last four.
The Aussie raced to take the first set in just half an hour, breaking his opponent twice, taking control behind his serve, winning 70 percent of the first serve points and 71 percent on his second.
On top of that, he saved all two break points he faced, committing only three unforced errors to the Malaga born 12, breaking his adversary five times on his way to the triumph.
Furthermore, he kept a perfect score at the net, winning 100 percent of his approaches.
On the other side of the net, the lack of energy and precision on serve became the Achilles heel of the Spanish player, who overall finished with 22 unforced errors (4 doubles faults) to 15 winners, winning 41 percent of the first delivery points.
On Sunday, De Minaur will face seventh seed Jannik Sinner - toppled Frenchman Gael Monfils in a three-set thriller - against in-form Tommy Paul, who denied World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz his 50th win of the season to earn the biggest triumph of his career on Friday.
Whoever wins, neither of the players in contention for the crown has claimed a Masters 1000 title before.