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Australia's Alex de Minaur has stormed into his first ATP Masters 1000 final, where he'll face Jannik Sinner, by thrashing Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Alex de Minaur has overcome blustery conditions to secure a breakthrough 6-1 6-3 victory over Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Canadian Open to reach the first Masters 1000 final of his career.
The Australian, who was fresh off an upset win over second seed and former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev, delivered a simple gameplan in rather tricky conditions on Saturday while Davidovich Fokina struggled to find any sort of rhythm throughout the 78-minute match.
"First thing I knew once I stepped out on court it wasn't going to be pretty so I didn't expect perfect tennis from my side of the court today," said de Minaur, who wrote "so windy" on an on-court camera lens after the match in Toronto.
"I just told myself to stay positive, keep competing no matter what and you never know what's going to happen.
"So I thought I had a great mindset today ... didn't play the best of tennis but I did what needed to be done today in these conditions."
Up next for de Minaur, who until this week had never before reached the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 event, will be Italian seventh seed Jannik Sinner after his 6-4 6-4 win over 12th-seeded American Tommy Paul.
Sinner will hope to improve on his seven ATP Tour titles on Sunday, having last won in February at Montpellier.
"I'm happy about how I reacted to every situation on the court," Sinner said.
"He played great ... I'm happy to be again in the final and hopefully I can show some good tennis tomorrow."
The 'Demon' claimed his seventh event in Acapulco earlier this year - beating Paul in the final - and reached the decider last week in Los Cabos, Mexico.
The world No.18 is set to rise to a career-best 14th in the rankings next week - at least - and could wind up on the cusp of the top 10 if he wins the title.
He wasted no time setting the tone against Davidovich Fokina as he broke the Spaniard twice en route to a 5-1 lead before serving out the opening set on his first opportunity.
The 24-year-old Sydneysider maintained the pressure as he broke Davidovich Fokina four times to build a 5-2 lead in the second before sealing the match with his seventh break.
"I've had a hell of a week. It's been the breakthrough that I always knew I had inside of me so it's great to show it and play for a final," de Minaur said.
With Reuters & AP.
