Italian beats Paul 6-4, 6-3 in last-four clash; Australian downs Fokina 6-1, 6-3
\nTORONTO
\nJannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur both dominated opponents in straight sets on Saturday to reach the final of the ATP Toronto Masters.
\nSinner, runner-up last spring in Miami, reached his second final of the season at the elite level with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of American Tommy Paul.
\nDe Minaur put an Australian into a Canadian final for the first time since 2001 with his 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
\nThe last Aussie to reach the title match here was Patrick Rafter \u2013 who had lifted the 1998 trophy. De Minaur maintained his hardcourt form from last weekend in Los Cabos, where he finished runner-up to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
\nSinner had to battle in his fourth career Masters semi-final, claiming the opening set in 53 minutes and winning a 46-shot rally to take a 5-2 lead in the second set. Sinner was broken while serving for victory but recovered a game later for victory on his third match point.
\n\u201cThis was a fight, he was playing great,\u201d the winner said. \u201cThis is what I play for \u2013 the big matches. \u201cI know the feeling of a Masters 1000 final. Hopefully I can show my best tennis tomorrow.
\n\u201cI\u2019m happy with how I reacted to situations on the court. I\u2019m happy to be in the final again. The pressure is something great, it\u2019s positive.\u201d
\nSinner leads de Minaur \u2013 his doubles partner this week \u2013 4-0 in previous meetings.
\nWorld number 18 De Minaur will bid for his eighth career trophy and second this season after winning a wind-swept semi-final over Davidovich Fokina that was littered with service breaks.
\nThe Australian, who knocked out second seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals, said winning could not have been more difficult.
\n\u201cIt was a very tough day, tricky conditions for playing tennis with all of the wind,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cFrom the first point I told myself to stay positive and not expect perfect tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Italian beats Paul 6-4, 6-3 in last-four clash; Australian downs Fokina 6-1, 6-3 TORONTO Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur both dominated opponents in straight sets on Saturday to reach the final of the ATP Toronto Masters. Sinner, runner-up last spring in Miami, reached his second final of the season at the elite level with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-349192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n