Final Preview: Sinner Seeks Maiden Masters Title Against De Minaur In Toronto

A first-time ATP Masters 1000 champion will be crowned on Sunday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, where seventh seed Jannik Sinner faces Alex de Minaur. The Italian has a 4-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the Australian. Both players are appearing in their fourth final of the year (1-2).

This is the third straight year and fourth time in the past five editions (except 2019) of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers there is an unseeded finalist: last year Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Hubert Hurkacz, in 2021 Reilly Opelka lost against Daniil Medvedev and in 2018 Stefanos Tsitsipas fell against Rafael Nadal. The event was not held in 2020.

Sinner is the first Italian man to reach the Toronto final in the Open Era (since 1968). He is trying to become the youngest Canadian ATP Masters 1000 winner since Alexander Zverev, 20, in 2017. Sinner is 17-4 in ATP Masters 1000 play this year and he’s appearing in his third career Masters 1000 final after a pair of runner-up efforts in Miami, in 2021 (l. to Hurkacz) and in April (l. to Medvedev). He is trying to become the second Italian Masters 1000 champion since the series began in 1990. Fabio Fognini won in Monte-Carlo in 2019.

Sinner is playing in his 11th ATP Tour final (7-3). He is 11-0 against Australians going back to the 2021 US Open.

De Minaur, who was runner-up last Saturday in Los Cabos (l. to Tsitsipas), is appearing in back-to-back ATP Tour finals for the first time in his career. He is the first Australian to advance to the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers final since Patrick Rafter (l. to Pavel) in 2001. Rafter is the last Australian Canadian ATP Masters 1000 champion in 1998 (d. Krajicek). Lleyton Hewitt is the last Australian to win a Masters 1000 title, triumphing in Indian Wells in 2003 (d. Kuerten).

The 24-year-old de Minaur has a 16-5 record since the grass-court swing in mid-June after compiling a 16-11 record from January through Roland Garros. He is appearing in his 14h ATP Tour final (7-6) and he is trying to defeat a third Top 10 player in Toronto. He is 6-4 vs. Top 10s this season (7-30 from 2017-2022).