Jannik Sinner beat Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1 in the Canadian Open final, 2023 on hard court in Toronto
It was Sinner’s first Masters title and the unseeded de Minaur’s to date only Masters final
Sinner won 64 points, de Minaur 41
Serve Stats
Sinner...
- 1st serve percentage (26/52) 50%
- 1st serve points won (19/26) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (15/26) 58%
- Aces 5
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (15/52) 29%
de Minaur...
- 1st serve percentage (28/53) 53%
- 1st serve points won (13/28) 46%
- 2nd serve points won (10/25) 40%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/53) 9%
Serve Patterns
Sinner served...
- to FH 37%
- to BH 47%
- to Body 16%
de Minaur served...
- to FH 44%
- to BH 37%
- to Body 19%
Return Stats
Sinner made...
- 47 (26 FH, 21 BH)
- 4 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 1 Forced (1 BH)
- Return Rate (47/52) 90%
de Minaur made...
- 34 (15 FH, 19 BH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (3 FH, 1 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (34/49) 69%
Break Points
Sinner 5/10 (6 games)
de Minaur 2/4 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Sinner 10 (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)
de Minaur 2 (1 FH, 1 BHV)
Sinner's FHs - 1 cc pass, 1 dtl, 2 drop shots, 1 lob
- BHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl (1 pass)
de Minaur's FH - 1 cc
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Sinner 31
- 25 Unforced (14 FH, 11 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46
de Minaur 38
- 26 Unforced (14 FH, 12 BH)... with 1 BH at net
- 12 Forced (7 FH, 5 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.1
(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Sinner was 6/7 (86%) at net
de Minaur was 5/9 (56%) at net
Match Report
Strong serving, power baseliner vs light serving, pusher who can’t punch ball early on a quick court - and it’s almost a mismatch
It not being a complete mismatch is a discredit to Sinner. There’s nothing impressive about de Minaur game and plenty that’s unimpressive. His winning 4 games in first set and breaking twice is taint on Sinner - who could reasonably be looking for 2 &1, given how the two stack up
For starters, it’s a fast court. Not that you’d know looking at Min’s serve numbers, which draws 9% unreturned rate (Sinner has 29%, which also isn’t good)
Few decent, hard hit returns from Sinner (as in, not easy to take charge of, but not necessarily threatening), virtually none from Min
Then they trade dual winged groundies. Sinner power hitting, Min pushing
First of all, Min misses a whole bunch of third balls trying to ‘take the ball early’. As in, he steps up to hit the ball - he’s not hitting hard enough for it to be troubling even if he makes the shots, which he usually doesn’t. Min has 9 UEs on the third ball - minority against the decent returns mentioned earlier, majority simple regulation shots (he also has 1 third ball winner from well up the court - 1 of 2 he has all match). Quick court helps. Those who are good at ‘taking the ball early’ tend to make it look easy. This is what happens when someone who isn’t tries
The difference in how hard each player hits is obvious. Sinner doesn’t get carried away, and keeps things skirting around beat-down strong, typically just shy of it. In other words, consistency is being tested more than shot resistance. Min’s isn’t good on either front
For that matter, Sinner’s consistency isn’t great either (hence, being broken twice). Sans plethora of third ball errors from Min, Sinner’s basic consistency is slightly worse. In other words, after rally develops a bit, Sinner’s more likely to blink up the error - and not because Min is a wall
That though is almost the only way Min has of winning points. He ain’t winning them with the serve (9% unreturneds), he’s not hitting winners (2), he’s not forcing errors (6)… unless Sinner misses routine groundies, Min wins next to nothing
Sinner double faults 3 times. Min has 2 winners
And Sinner? Gets his freebies, 29% unreturned. Low in count of 50% curbs that, but his second serving is one of the best things of his showing. Lots of deep, sometimes surprisingly powerful, often directed at the body second serves by Sinner. Draws weak returns with both serves that he can command
He’s got 10 winners, forces 12 errors. Lower than both players UEs (Sinner 25, Min 26). Usually sign of a bad match. Less so here because of the mountains of space Sinner has to mess up and still be leading very comfortably. Practically, any winners or otherwise aggressively ended points and unreturned serves are his net profit, with Min having next to none of any of them
Points won by Sinner
- 26 UEs from Min
- 22 aggressively ended (10 winners + 12 errors forced)
- 15 unreturned serves
- 1 double fault from Min
Good ratio of winners to errors forced, sign of not getting carried away with his hitting advantage and trying to paint lines unnecessarily. Not that his judgement is great there
He’s got 3 attacking errors (good for forcing 12 errors) and 6 winner attempt UEs (not good for just 10 winners)
Points won by de Minaur
- 25 UEs from Sinner
- 8 aggressively ended (2 winners + 6 errors forced)
- 5 unreturned serves
- 3 double faults
Medium paced serve that he can’t get wide of the big wing span of Sinner. He also second serves to the body, without pace enough to bother Sinner. Pushed groundies, that aren’t likely to trouble at all and don’t and he’s not even particularly consistent at keeping the ball in play. He is pressured some by force of Sinners hits, but not overly
Not even his famed quickness on show. Its not tested much - Sinner ball-bashes more than goes attackingly wide - but he lets a couple of drop shot winners go without chase and isn’t too hard to force an error on the run (credit for power of Sinner there, but nothing special from Min to potentially counter-act it)
Min with 4 attacking and 2 winner attempt UEs. He doesn’t try to be aggressive
Neutral UEs - Sinner 16, Min 20
Death knell to trail here for the passive player, though as stated earlier, he does hold up better after rally develops (which is another way of saying he’s often sloppy in giving up early errors in a way Sinner isn’t)
You watch a match like this and wonder how the loser made it to the final. Among others, Min beat second seed Medvedev en route
Match Progression
5 breaks in the first set, with Min breaking back at once twice
After Sinner commandingly holds to open, there’s first trade of breaks. Couple of decent returns from Sinner draw not-too-easy UEs from Min and Sinner wraps up with a winning BH dtl/inside-out that forces error
Ground UEs by Sinner hand back the break
They trade breaks again in moving from 3-2 to 4-3. Having blinked up the ground UEs to trail 40-30, Sinner finishes in style - winning BH cc and FH inside-out and a lovely FH lob winner
Again, ground UEs by Sinner hand back the break, with Min mildly forcing an error with FH line shot to end the game
Dem finally levels match at 4-4, holding a 12 point game from 15-40 down. He’s at net a couple times and hits his first winner of the match, a third ball FH cc from well up the court late in the game, before Sinner misses a winner attempt FH dtl
He only wins 1 more game. Poor game to be broken to love to give up the set, including missing a regulation third ball BH and an easy BH at net to a poor drop shot. Deep ball draws not easy error on break point
Second set looks like it might be competitive. Error strewn, deuce hold by Sinner to open and Min’s at his most aggressive in leveling with a couple of net points and his sole ace
He doesn’t win another game. Not much changes of action - Sinner still power hitting, Min pushing but error rates shift in Sinner’s favour. Min’s newfound aggression proves short lived and he’s only at net once more, where Sinner nicely waits to punch a BH dtl pass winner. Min makes no effort to chase a FH drop shot that goes through for a winner also. These 2 points are part of the first break, which ends with a regulation BH miss
More ground UEs, including third balls, lead to the second break before Sinner serves out to 30, in a game he makes just 1 first serve and double faults
Summing up, very comfortable result for Sinner whose hitting form looks good (especially in comparison to his opponent) but he doesn’t play particularly well with considerable looseness off the ground
He doesn’t have to because de Minaur hardly looks in his class. Innocuous serving, pushed groundies with good lot of sloppiness to them, some failed attempts to take ball early (though he’s not hitting hard enough to rush Sinner even were he to make the shots)
Looks like a man playing a boy, a mismatch
It was Sinner’s first Masters title and the unseeded de Minaur’s to date only Masters final
Sinner won 64 points, de Minaur 41
Serve Stats
Sinner...
- 1st serve percentage (26/52) 50%
- 1st serve points won (19/26) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (15/26) 58%
- Aces 5
- Double Faults 3
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (15/52) 29%
de Minaur...
- 1st serve percentage (28/53) 53%
- 1st serve points won (13/28) 46%
- 2nd serve points won (10/25) 40%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (5/53) 9%
Serve Patterns
Sinner served...
- to FH 37%
- to BH 47%
- to Body 16%
de Minaur served...
- to FH 44%
- to BH 37%
- to Body 19%
Return Stats
Sinner made...
- 47 (26 FH, 21 BH)
- 4 Errors, comprising...
- 3 Unforced (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 1 Forced (1 BH)
- Return Rate (47/52) 90%
de Minaur made...
- 34 (15 FH, 19 BH)
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (3 FH, 1 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (34/49) 69%
Break Points
Sinner 5/10 (6 games)
de Minaur 2/4 (2 games)
Winners (including returns, excluding serves)
Sinner 10 (5 FH, 3 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)
de Minaur 2 (1 FH, 1 BHV)
Sinner's FHs - 1 cc pass, 1 dtl, 2 drop shots, 1 lob
- BHs - 1 cc, 2 dtl (1 pass)
de Minaur's FH - 1 cc
Errors (excluding serves and returns)
Sinner 31
- 25 Unforced (14 FH, 11 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 3 BH)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46
de Minaur 38
- 26 Unforced (14 FH, 12 BH)... with 1 BH at net
- 12 Forced (7 FH, 5 BH)
- Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 43.1
(Note 1: All 1/2 volleys refer to such shots played at net. 1/2 volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke numbers)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Sinner was 6/7 (86%) at net
de Minaur was 5/9 (56%) at net
Match Report
Strong serving, power baseliner vs light serving, pusher who can’t punch ball early on a quick court - and it’s almost a mismatch
It not being a complete mismatch is a discredit to Sinner. There’s nothing impressive about de Minaur game and plenty that’s unimpressive. His winning 4 games in first set and breaking twice is taint on Sinner - who could reasonably be looking for 2 &1, given how the two stack up
For starters, it’s a fast court. Not that you’d know looking at Min’s serve numbers, which draws 9% unreturned rate (Sinner has 29%, which also isn’t good)
Few decent, hard hit returns from Sinner (as in, not easy to take charge of, but not necessarily threatening), virtually none from Min
Then they trade dual winged groundies. Sinner power hitting, Min pushing
First of all, Min misses a whole bunch of third balls trying to ‘take the ball early’. As in, he steps up to hit the ball - he’s not hitting hard enough for it to be troubling even if he makes the shots, which he usually doesn’t. Min has 9 UEs on the third ball - minority against the decent returns mentioned earlier, majority simple regulation shots (he also has 1 third ball winner from well up the court - 1 of 2 he has all match). Quick court helps. Those who are good at ‘taking the ball early’ tend to make it look easy. This is what happens when someone who isn’t tries
The difference in how hard each player hits is obvious. Sinner doesn’t get carried away, and keeps things skirting around beat-down strong, typically just shy of it. In other words, consistency is being tested more than shot resistance. Min’s isn’t good on either front
For that matter, Sinner’s consistency isn’t great either (hence, being broken twice). Sans plethora of third ball errors from Min, Sinner’s basic consistency is slightly worse. In other words, after rally develops a bit, Sinner’s more likely to blink up the error - and not because Min is a wall
That though is almost the only way Min has of winning points. He ain’t winning them with the serve (9% unreturneds), he’s not hitting winners (2), he’s not forcing errors (6)… unless Sinner misses routine groundies, Min wins next to nothing
Sinner double faults 3 times. Min has 2 winners
And Sinner? Gets his freebies, 29% unreturned. Low in count of 50% curbs that, but his second serving is one of the best things of his showing. Lots of deep, sometimes surprisingly powerful, often directed at the body second serves by Sinner. Draws weak returns with both serves that he can command
He’s got 10 winners, forces 12 errors. Lower than both players UEs (Sinner 25, Min 26). Usually sign of a bad match. Less so here because of the mountains of space Sinner has to mess up and still be leading very comfortably. Practically, any winners or otherwise aggressively ended points and unreturned serves are his net profit, with Min having next to none of any of them
Points won by Sinner
- 26 UEs from Min
- 22 aggressively ended (10 winners + 12 errors forced)
- 15 unreturned serves
- 1 double fault from Min
Good ratio of winners to errors forced, sign of not getting carried away with his hitting advantage and trying to paint lines unnecessarily. Not that his judgement is great there
He’s got 3 attacking errors (good for forcing 12 errors) and 6 winner attempt UEs (not good for just 10 winners)
Points won by de Minaur
- 25 UEs from Sinner
- 8 aggressively ended (2 winners + 6 errors forced)
- 5 unreturned serves
- 3 double faults
Medium paced serve that he can’t get wide of the big wing span of Sinner. He also second serves to the body, without pace enough to bother Sinner. Pushed groundies, that aren’t likely to trouble at all and don’t and he’s not even particularly consistent at keeping the ball in play. He is pressured some by force of Sinners hits, but not overly
Not even his famed quickness on show. Its not tested much - Sinner ball-bashes more than goes attackingly wide - but he lets a couple of drop shot winners go without chase and isn’t too hard to force an error on the run (credit for power of Sinner there, but nothing special from Min to potentially counter-act it)
Min with 4 attacking and 2 winner attempt UEs. He doesn’t try to be aggressive
Neutral UEs - Sinner 16, Min 20
Death knell to trail here for the passive player, though as stated earlier, he does hold up better after rally develops (which is another way of saying he’s often sloppy in giving up early errors in a way Sinner isn’t)
You watch a match like this and wonder how the loser made it to the final. Among others, Min beat second seed Medvedev en route
Match Progression
5 breaks in the first set, with Min breaking back at once twice
After Sinner commandingly holds to open, there’s first trade of breaks. Couple of decent returns from Sinner draw not-too-easy UEs from Min and Sinner wraps up with a winning BH dtl/inside-out that forces error
Ground UEs by Sinner hand back the break
They trade breaks again in moving from 3-2 to 4-3. Having blinked up the ground UEs to trail 40-30, Sinner finishes in style - winning BH cc and FH inside-out and a lovely FH lob winner
Again, ground UEs by Sinner hand back the break, with Min mildly forcing an error with FH line shot to end the game
Dem finally levels match at 4-4, holding a 12 point game from 15-40 down. He’s at net a couple times and hits his first winner of the match, a third ball FH cc from well up the court late in the game, before Sinner misses a winner attempt FH dtl
He only wins 1 more game. Poor game to be broken to love to give up the set, including missing a regulation third ball BH and an easy BH at net to a poor drop shot. Deep ball draws not easy error on break point
Second set looks like it might be competitive. Error strewn, deuce hold by Sinner to open and Min’s at his most aggressive in leveling with a couple of net points and his sole ace
He doesn’t win another game. Not much changes of action - Sinner still power hitting, Min pushing but error rates shift in Sinner’s favour. Min’s newfound aggression proves short lived and he’s only at net once more, where Sinner nicely waits to punch a BH dtl pass winner. Min makes no effort to chase a FH drop shot that goes through for a winner also. These 2 points are part of the first break, which ends with a regulation BH miss
More ground UEs, including third balls, lead to the second break before Sinner serves out to 30, in a game he makes just 1 first serve and double faults
Summing up, very comfortable result for Sinner whose hitting form looks good (especially in comparison to his opponent) but he doesn’t play particularly well with considerable looseness off the ground
He doesn’t have to because de Minaur hardly looks in his class. Innocuous serving, pushed groundies with good lot of sloppiness to them, some failed attempts to take ball early (though he’s not hitting hard enough to rush Sinner even were he to make the shots)
Looks like a man playing a boy, a mismatch
