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Seventh seed Jannik Sinner of Italy thrashed Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-4, 6-1 to win the 2023 Canadian Open title in Toronto on Sunday, August 13. It was the first-ever Masters 1000 title for the 21-year-old prodigy, who is touted as one of the future superstars in tennis.
The match was over within a couple of hours, as Sinner had little problem in disposing of the 24-year-old Australian. De Minaur fought well in the first set but failed to turn up in the second to hand the Italian an easy win. While Sinner jumped two spots in the ATP rankings from No. 8 to No. 6, De Minaur rose from No. 18 to No. 12.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match:
#1. Both players struggled to hold serve in the first set
Both players struggled with their serve in the first set. Sinner got off to a good start by breaking De Minaur in the second game of the set, but the Australian broke back immediately and then held his serve to level the score at 2-2.
The Italian broke the Australian once again, with the latter getting the break back as well to level the score. However, Sinner then broke de Minaur for the third time in the set in the 10th game to go one up.
Jannik Sinner had more power in his groundstrokes of the two, as De Minaur often played the backhand slice to take the pace off the ball. However, the Australian’s weaker serve was repeatedly put to the sword by the Italian.
#2. Unforced errors crept up for De Minaur in the second set, with Jannik Sinner winning comfortably
Jannik Sinner once again made a good start to the second set, breaking Alex de Minaur early to lead 3-1 and then held his serve to extend the lead. Midway through the second set, the Aussie started committing unforced errors that proved to be costly for him.
De Minaur repeatedly hit the ball into the net and also hit a few of his shots long while trying to go for depth. Sinner, meanwhile, was clinical enough to assert his supremacy in the match.
The Italian broke his opponent once again in the sixth game of the second set to virtually seal the match. He had no problem serving the match out in the subsequent game, with the scorecard reading 6-4, 6-1.
De Minaur was able to win only 46% and 42% of the points on his first and second serves, respectively, while Jannik Sinner had far better numbers — 72% first serve and 67% second serve.
