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Jannik Sinner broke new ground on Sunday when he captured his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. The Italian produced a clean-hitting display in Toronto to earn a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Alex de Minaur in one hour and 30 minutes.

Sinner lost his previous two Masters 1000 title matches in Miami in 2021 and 2023, but ensured he would not suffer final heartbreak again against de Minaur. He broke the Australian's serve five times to join Fabio Fognini (Monte-Carlo 2019) as just the second Italian Masters 1000 champion since the series began in 1990.

"It means a lot. It is a great result," Sinner said. "One I can share with all the people who are close to me every day. It is a nice moment to share with them and we are doing the right things. This result makes us feel good, stronger and hungry to work even harder in the future."

The 21-year-old is the youngest champion at the Canadian Masters 1000 since then-20-year-old Alexander Zverev lifted the trophy in 2017. Sinner’s victory also improved his Masters 1000 record to 18-4 in 2023, while he became the second first-time Masters 1000 winner of the season, joining Monte-Carlo champion Andrey Rublev.

"I am proud] how I handled the situation. Every opponent here is tough to play against," Sinner said. "I felt the pressure, but I think I handled it very well. Trying to play point after point. Treating everyone with respect on the court, so I am happy with how I handled the situation."

One of the big storylines of the 2023 season has been the battle for No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. When mentioned to the Spaniard at his press conference Sunday ahead of the Western & Southern Open, the World No. 1 cracked a smile.

“I like those battles. I like to know that I can lose, and I can recover it at the same time. Of course, you have to enjoy when the battle is against one of the legends from our sport, against Novak,” Alcaraz said. “I feel that I'm [the] main opponent for him. For me, it's something crazy, and I'm trying to enjoy [it].”

World No. 1 is at stake again this week in Cincinnati, where both men are pursuing the trophy at the season’s seventh ATP Masters 1000 event. Alcaraz can guarantee he will retain top spot by advancing to the championship match in Ohio.

Although the 20-year-old is focussed on the task at hand, which is doing as well as possible in this tournament, he is also conscious of the World No. 1 battle.

“You have to put goals to yourself during the season, in every tournament,” Alcaraz said. “And for me right now the main goal is to stay in the top spot and if I lose it, try to recover it as fast as I can. It's something that helped me a lot to show my best level in the big tournaments.”

Ben Shelton made a triumphant return to the scene of his ATP Masters 1000 breakthrough Sunday at the Western & Southern Open.

The #NextGenATP star prevailed 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in an all-American battle with Christopher Eubanks to book his spot in the second round in Cincinnati. Shelton was clinical with his chances in his second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Eubanks, converting two of the three break points he earned for a two-hour, two-minute win.

Shelton was No. 229 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings when he defeated Lorenzo Sonego on his Masters 1000 debut a year ago in Ohio. He backed that win up by upsetting then-World No. 5 Casper Ruud in straight sets in the second round, and the American has since risen as high as World No. 35.

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There was an added mental challenge to his win on Sunday. Shelton and Eubanks will compete together in the doubles draw this week at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, and the World No. 41 admitted that facing his good friend did not make things easy as he looked to back up his 2022 Cincinnati heroics.

After a week of tough battles in Toronto, Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer saved their best until last to lift the trophy Sunday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The unseeded Salvadoran-Dutch pair delivered a high-class championship-match display to prevail 6-3, 6-1 against Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury and claim their maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown. Arevalo and Rojer combined rock-solid baseline play with plenty of delicate touches at the net to race to victory in just 60 minutes at Sobeys Stadium.

“This was great. We have played well for the past year and a half. We reached a lot of goals together. We won a Grand Slam title, but of course we want to do great also at the Masters,” said Arevalo. “So we were looking for that big title, and I’m super, super proud we were able to do it here in Toronto.”

Arevalo and Rojer had won three of their four matches en route to the final in a Match Tie-break, but after clinching the only break of the first set in the fourth game in Sunday’s final they barely looked back. The broke their opponents’ serve three times in the second set to claim their third ATP Tour title of the year.

“I’m not sure what made the difference [today],” said Rojer. “I know that Marcelo and I, coming into the match, were playing quite well. Once you get to the finals, and you play a great team like Joe and Raj, the margins are little. It says [6-3, 6-1], and you can say whatever you want, but we know that a point here or there [can make a difference].

A first-time ATP Masters 1000 champion will be crowned on Sunday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, where seventh seed Jannik Sinner faces Alex de Minaur. The Italian has a 4-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the Australian. Both players are appearing in their fourth final of the year (1-2).

This is the third straight year and fourth time in the past five editions (except 2019) of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers there is an unseeded finalist: last year Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Hubert Hurkacz, in 2021 Reilly Opelka lost against Daniil Medvedev and in 2018 Stefanos Tsitsipas fell against Rafael Nadal. The event was not held in 2020.

Sinner is the first Italian man to reach the Toronto final in the Open Era (since 1968). He is trying to become the youngest Canadian ATP Masters 1000 winner since Alexander Zverev, 20, in 2017. Sinner is 17-4 in ATP Masters 1000 play this year and he’s appearing in his third career Masters 1000 final after a pair of runner-up efforts in Miami, in 2021 (l. to Hurkacz) and in April (l. to Medvedev). He is trying to become the second Italian Masters 1000 champion since the series began in 1990. Fabio Fognini won in Monte-Carlo in 2019.

Sinner is playing in his 11th ATP Tour final (7-3). He is 11-0 against Australians going back to the 2021 US Open.

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A second straight week of ATP Masters 1000 action will begin on Monday at the Western & Southern Open, with the world's best set to compete for the title on the American hard courts.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic headline the field, back in the same draw for the first time since Wimbledon. ATPTour.com looks at 10 storylines to watch over the coming week.

1) Alcaraz Under Threat: Following his quarter-final defeat to Tommy Paul in Toronto, Alcaraz's position atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings could come under fire this week. The Spaniard, who reached the Cincinnati quarter-finals last season, must reach the final this year to guarantee his stay at No. 1 and earn the top seed at the US Open ahead of Djokovic.

Alcaraz will open against John Isner or a qualifier, and could face a rematch against Paul in the third round.

2) Djokovic Returns: The Serbian will compete for the first time in a month as he bids to put his Wimbledon final defeat firmly behind him. Returning to the Western & Southern Open for the first time since he won it 2020 — when the event was played in New York — Djokovic is bidding for his third tournament title.

Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrated his 25th birthday Saturday with a full schedule at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

The 2022 finalist went through his slate of media day activities at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre before turning his attention to his preparations for the season's seventh ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

Photo: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour
Tsitsipas enjoyed an early evening training session with 2017 Cincinnati champion Grigor Dimitrov. Former World No. 8 Mark Philippoussis, who is now Tsitsipas' lead coach, was on court with the No. 4 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Also on the practice court was Tsitsipas' girlfriend, WTA star Paula Badosa.

Tsitsipas will begin his tournament against an American: Christopher Eubanks or Ben Shelton. The 25-year-old last week won his first title of the season in Los Cabos.

Novak Djokovic is ready to roll at the Western & Southern Open.

The Serbian star enjoyed an intense first practice in Cincinnati Saturday evening on centre court, where plenty of fans packed the stadium to catch a glimpse of the 38-time ATP Masters 1000 champion.

Djokovic worked hard under the watchful eye of coach Goran Ivanisevic, training in the Ohio humidity with team member Carlos Gomez-Herrera. The second seed worked on his baseline game with Gomez-Herrera before Ivanisevic stepped in to feed balls for more specific drills with the Serbian.

The two-time Western & Southern Open titlist (2018 in Cincinnati, 2020 at Flushing Meadows) also worked on his serve and return. After finishing his session, Djokovic made time for his fans by signing autographs .

The 36-year-old carries a 40-12 record at this tournament and will compete in Cincinnati for the first time since 2019, when he reached the semi-finals. This will be Djokovic's first tournament in the United States since the 2021 US Open, in which he fell to Daniil Medvedev in the final.

Jannik Sinner kept his bid for a first ATP Masters 1000 crown on track Saturday night with a hard-fought victory against Tommy Paul in Toronto. The Italian earned a 6-4, 6-4 win to advance to his third ATP Masters 1000 final, having previously finished runner-up twice in Miami.

Sinner's success at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers continues a consistent year of deep runs at the Masters 1000s that has included semi-finals in Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo in addition to a Miami final appearance. The Italian is now 17-4 this season at that prestigious level.

"It's always a privilege to stand on such a great court, playing a great match against an incredible opponent," Sinner said post-match. "I'm just trying somehow to take any challenge that's coming. Whether its the 46-ball rally [on break point in the second set] or also when you serve for the match and you get broken, and then after you have to find a solution somehow to win. 

"I'm happy about how I reacted to every situation on the court. He played great. He's a very nice guy. I'm happy to be again in the final and hopefully I can show some good tennis tomorrow."

While Sinner has held steady at No. 8 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, he could leapfrog Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud and enter the Top 5 with a win against Alex de Minaur in Sunday's final. Sinner's performance this week has already lifted him two places to fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, putting him in prime position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals directly for the first time; he made his Turin debut as an alternate in 2021.

Can Alex de Minaur’s red-hot form carry him all the way to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown?

The Australian 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. De Minaur stayed largely solid to ease to victory against his under-par opponent in just 78 minutes, breaking in all but one of the Spaniard’s eight service games to reach his fourth ATP Tour final of the season.

“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.”

Now 16-5 since the beginning of the grass-court season in June, De Minaur will meet seventh seed Jannik Sinner or 12th seed Tommy Paul on Sunday at Sobeys Stadium as he chases the biggest title of his career. His run in Toronto, where he took out Top 10 opponents Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev prior to Davidovich Fokina, has lifted him five spots to 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Davidovich Fokina's low-energy performance on Saturday suggested he may have been feeling the effects of his previous exertions this week in Toronto, where he upset seeded players Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud. De Minaur was clinical in capitalising on his opponent’s struggles, cruising to become the first Australian to reach the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers final since Patrick Rafter in 2001.

Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer raised their game spectacularly amidst the tension of a Match Tie-break Saturday to reach their maiden ATP Masters 1000 final as a team at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The Salvadoran-Dutch pair prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in Toronto to book a championship-match appointment against Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury or Kevin Krawietz/Tim Puetz. Arevalo and Rojer won eight of the final 10 points from 2/3 in the Match Tie-break against Granollers and Zeballos to complete a 93-minute semi-final win.

Coming up clutch ?@CheloArevaloATP and Jean-Julien Rojer book their final tickets 6-3 3-6 10-5 over Granollers/Zeballos

? @NBOtoronto | #NBO23 pic.twitter.com/e7OkXVDSzR

The six-time ATP Tour champion team Arevalo and Rojer delivered a strong returning display to notch their second victory in three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Granollers and Zeballos. They carved out seven break points across the three sets, although they were only able to convert one as their opponents forced the Match Tie-break.

Arevalo and Rojer’s previous victory against Granollers and Zeballos came at the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals. Their performances in Toronto this week have boosted their chances of qualifying for the prestigious season finale for a second straight year: Arevalo and Rojer have so far risen three spots to 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings as a result of their run at Sobeys Stadium.

Jannik Sinner moved one step closer to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title Friday when he defeated Gael Monfils in the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers quarter-finals.

The 21-year-old survived a heavy-hitting contest to oust the Frenchman 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 after two hours and 22 minutes of exciting baseline rallies. Monfils and Sinner thrilled the crowd to 32 points consisting of nine shots or more, with the Italian firing 20 winners to advance to his fifth Masters 1000 semi-final.

"It was very tough," Sinner said in his on-court interview. "In the second set, I made a couple unforced errors but he raised his level. In the third set, I just tried to stick to my game plan, trying to play a little more free, which I've done so I'm very happy about the performance."

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The Italian, who let slip an early break lead in the second set, overcame Monfils' 19 aces and won 61 per cent of points behind the 36-year-old's second serve to earn victory at 12:13 a.m. Sinner will next meet 12th seed Tommy Paul, who upset World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz to kick off the evening session.

Carlos Alcaraz will have little time to dwell on his surprise defeat to Tommy Paul in the Toronto quarter-finals Friday night. The 20-year-old Spaniard will immediately head to the Western & Southern Open, where his hold on the No. 1 Pepperstone ATP Ranking is under threat.

Novak Djokovic returns to American soil for the first time since 2021 and with no points to defend at the ATP Masters 1000 event the Serbian has the opportunity to reclaim the mantle he has held for 389 weeks throughout his career.

And Alcaraz doesn’t have an easy draw at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre: He is seeded to meet Paul for the second time in two weeks, this time in the third round.

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“I realise that I didn't play well, these matches,” the 20-year-old said of a sketchy first tournament back after his Wimbledon triumph. “So all I can do now is practise to be better. I have some weeks before the US Open. But now I have to be focussed on Cincinnati. It's a Masters 1000. It's a big tournament as well.

Tommy Paul ended Carlos Alcaraz’s 14-match winning streak when he upset the World No. 1 in Friday’s quarter-finals at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers.

The American struck the ball cleanly to down the top seed 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and reach his maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. The 26-year-old, who defeated Alcaraz last year in Montreal, displayed all-court coverage and often looked for opportunities to move forward to earn his first win over a World No. 1.

"I played a really good match today. I really went after my shots," Paul said in his on-court interview. "You can't start any points on your heels against him or he'll take advantage of that. So you really have to go after your shots early in the rally and I was feeling really good on the first-strike tennis. That was the difference today.”

The 12th seed won 21 of 23 net points and rushed Alcaraz with aggressive returning throughout the two-hour, 20-minute battle, in which the Spaniard committed 17 unforced forehand errors.

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With Friday's doubles action exclusively on the Grandstand at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, fans in Toronto's second stadium were treated to a nail-biting day of quarter-final matches.

First up, seventh seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos upset fourth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 7-5, 6-7(6), 10-8. The Spanish-Argentine team saved both break points against them and won 85 per cent of their first serve points in the dramatic victory, with the pair recovering quickly after losing its first set of the week.

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Seeking their eighth tour-level title as a team and their first of 2023, this year's Wimbledon finalists will meet 2022 Roland Garros champs Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer in Saturday's semis.

Arevalo/Rojer won a Match Tie-break of their own, edging eighth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-0, 6-7(4), 10-8 on Friday afternoon. Despite a dominant start and five breaks of serve, the El Salvadoran-Dutch pair needed to hold its nerve down the stretch to reach its first ATP Tour semi-final since Geneva in May. 

The Western & Southern Open draw was revealed on Friday, with top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in the same field for the first time since their Wimbledon final epic. While the top two players in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings can only meet in the title match at the Cincinnati ATP Masters 1000, there will be plenty of intrigue long before that in the opening round.

Among the many must-see first-round matchups, breakout American stars Ben Shelton and Christopher Eubanks will clash on home soil, 13th seed Cameron Norrie will meet Gael Monfils, and 16th seed Alexander Zverev will face Grigor Dimitrov.

Perhaps the biggest of the early blockbusters will see 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime bid to break out of his recent slump when he meets Matteo Berrettini. Auger-Aliassime defeated the Italian two years ago in Cincinnati, but that is his only win in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head Series, which Berrettini leads 4-1.

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Both men will be eager to make up for early exits in Toronto, where Berrettini lost to countryman Jannik Sinner in the second round and Auger-Aliassime was upset by Aussie Max Purcell to bring his losing streak to four matches.

Alex de Minaur showed his comeback qualities once again on Friday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, where he upset World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev 7-6(7), 7-5 to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.

After fighting back from 1-5 in the first set in his previous match against Taylor Fritz, the Australian showed similar powers of recovery against Medvedev. Competing in his maiden Masters 1000 quarter-final, De Minaur rallied from 2-5 in the first set, saving three set points in the tie-break before clinching the opener. He then twice rallied from a break down in the second set to inflict just the fourth hard-court defeat of the season on Medvedev, who lifted the trophy in Toronto in 2021.

"I had to play some of my best tennis today," De Minaur said. "It has been a great week for me so far. I played the right way today. I think having played him at the end of last year gave me the confidence that I had a chance. I just had to play the right way and I am extremely proud of the effort and to still be alive.

"I know every time I play Daniil it will be a chess match. We are both very good at adapting and playing different styles and it brings the best out of me. I have to be aggressive and take the chances I get. I think this style of tennis is my best style of tennis."

The 24-year-old, who also defeated seed Cameron Norrie earlier this week, has now earned four Top 5 wins. He will continue the quest for his eighth tour-level title and the biggest of his career against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Saturday.

Former NBA star Dirk Nowtizki has called tennis his "first love", and the German is a frequent guest at both ATP Tour and WTA events. Ahead of his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Aug. 12, the Dallas Mavericks legend took some time to talk tennis.

“I watch tennis a lot,” Nowitzki told WTAtennis.com. “I love tennis. I grew up playing tennis, so I’ve followed the sport my entire life. Of course, I’m a huge Roger Federer guy, a Rafael Nadal fan. It’s tough to really pick one favourite."

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He may not be able to pick a favourite, but he had no issue singling out Carlos Alcaraz as his pick to be the dominant force in the sport going forward.

“Alcaraz I saw live just a couple of months ago in Indian Wells,” Nowitzki said. “Unbelievable. The touch, the talent, the physical nature, the speed, the athleticism. To me, he is like a complete package.

“The crazy thing is, he’s only 20. If he stays injury-free, obviously he’s going to be dominant for a long, long time."

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina advanced to his second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final on Friday at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers, where he dispatched Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2 in Toronto.

The Spaniard earned his fifth Top 10 win, and first on hard courts, against Casper Ruud in the previous round and backed that up with an aggressive returning performance against McDonald. Davidovich Fokina won 68 per cent (19/28) of points on McDonald’s second serve, while he struck 22 winners, letting out a roar after sealing victory on his second match point.

“To beat the top players is giving me a lot of confidence,” Davidovich Fokina said. “I just want to step on court and play my best and enjoy every moment and every point. To get that battle that I want. He was playing amazing at the beginning and then made a few mistakes and I believed more in myself. It gave me a lot of power.

“The good routines and habits are [important]. “All the habits are off court the court. Obviously a lot of things on court, but lots off court.”

With his one-hour, 35-minute win, Davidovich Fokina reached his first semi-final of the season in his sixth quarter-final attempt. Up 14 spots to No. 23 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, he will meet second seed Daniil Medvedev or Australian Alex de Minaur on Saturday. Davidovich Fokina reached a previous career-high No. 24 in April this year.

Two weeks ago, Pablo Llamas Ruiz became the youngest Spaniard to win an ATP Challenger Tour title since an 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz triumphed in 2021. How did Llamas Ruiz learn of that statistic? From the World No. 1 himself.

“I had no idea until Carlitos sent me the [Instagram] link and congratulated me,” Llamas Ruiz said in Spanish to ATPTour.com. “I clicked on the link and thought, ‘Unbelievable’. It's something I absolutely didn't expect, and it's given me even more enthusiasm to keep working.”

Llamas Ruiz, 20, was playing just his 10th Challenger event of the year in Segovia, where he saved three match points in the semi-finals before being crowned champion the next day. The #NextGenATP star’s rapid rise is only fueling his fire.

“It was something that I never expected, that I would win my first Challenger title on hard courts, it's incredible,” Llamas Ruiz said. “I'm so, so happy to win the title. I want to keep winning, keep training. I need to think that it's just one title because if I think, 'Oh, I won a Challenger, I won't work more', that's bad for you.”

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