Italian Jannik Sinner put an end to Tommy Paul’s roll at the National Bank Open in Toronto on Saturday, knocking off the American one day after his upset of world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
Sinner, ranked No. 8 in the world and seeded seventh, defeated No. 12 seed Paul 6-4, 6-4 in just under one hour, 57 minutes in the semifinals.
Sinner will go for his first ATP Masters 1000 title in the finals Sunday against unseeded Alex de Minaur. The Australian needed only 78 minutes for a 6-1, 6-3 win over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the earlier semifinal.
The latter match was much more of a battle. Sinner took the opening set by claiming the fifth break in its final game, then led 3-1 in the second set.
Paul received a medical timeout for treatment on his back, then fought back by creating break points in each of his next three return games.
Sinner stood up to five break points, including a 46-ball rally that lasted over a minute while leading the second set 4-2 with the game at 30-40.
For the match, Sinner converted half of his break breaks (5 of 10) to 3 of 11 for Paul. Sinner also had the edge in first serve points won, succeeding on 17 of 43 (40 percent) to just 7 of 32 (22 percent) for the American.
“It’s always a privilege to stand on such a great court, playing a great match against an incredible opponent,” Sinner said after the match. “I’m just trying somehow to take any challenge that’s coming. Whether it’s the 46-ball rally or also when you serve for the match and you get broken, and then after you have to find a solution somehow to win.”
Sinner praised Paul as well as de Minaur, who is 0-4 all-time against the Italian.
Davidovich Fokina committed 22 unforced errors compared to four for de Minaur, who converted seven of nine break points. Davidovich Fokina converted three of nine break opportunities.
“It was a very tough day. Very tricky conditions out here,” said de Minaur. “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.”
–Field Level Media