Alex de Minaur survived gusting wind which wrecked any game plan as the Australian reached the final of the Toronto Masters 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The No. 18 will be the first from the island-continent to get this far in Canada since Patrick Rafter in 2001.
De Minaur and his Spanish opponent battled the unpredictable elements throughout the 78-minute semi-final, with serve broken in eight of nine games in the second set.
Both contenders were coming off of Toronto quarter-final upsets: Davidovich Fokina stunned top seed Carlos Alcaraz while de Minaur accounted for second seed Daniil Medvedev.
The Aussie will be playing his first final at the Masters 1000 level as he looks for an eighth career title and second this season after Acapulco.
“It was a very tough day, tricky conditions for playing tennis with all of the wind,” he said.
“From the first point I told myself to stay positive and not expect perfect tennis.
“I showed the level I knew I could – it’s about backing it up day after day.”
De Minaur ended with a mere nine winners and the same in unforced errors, his opponent had 38 miscues.
Main photo:- Alex de Minaur celebrates semi final win by ATPTour.com
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