Alex De Minaur wasted little time booking his spot in the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers championship match with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Saturday in Toronto.
“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.”.
“[I‘m proud of] bringing out the level that I knew I always could and being able to back it up day after day,” said De Minaur, who had not been past the last 16 of a Masters 1000 prior to this week. “That’s been one of the goals of mine, to stay consistent and keep bringing this level, and 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 the chance this week, I’ve taken that opportunity, and tomorrow I get to play another final.”
De Minaur has now risen six spots to No. 12 in the Rankings as a result of his run in Toronto, three clear of his career-high No. 15. He is set up nicely for a bid to crack the Top 10 for the first time across the rest of the North American hard-court swing.
“For a couple of years now I’ve been chasing that goal, and probably put a lot of stress on myself to try to achieve that,” said De Minaur. “I’m always going to get the absolute most out of myself. I’m not content where I am, so I’m just going to keep on pushing.”
The Australian will now face Italian Jannik Sinner in the final after Dinner went past Tommy Paul in the second semi-finals to reach his third masters finals.
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