Ricky’s pick for the Toronto final: Sinner vs. De Minaur

Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers when they battle for the National Bank Open title on Sunday.

De Minaur was the first to book his spot in the championship match, as he destroyed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday afternoon. The Australian had to have been rooting for Tommy Paul in the nightcap against Sunner. After all, De Minaur is winless versus Sinner (0-4, plus 1-10 lifetime in total sets) but undefeated at Paul’s expense (5-0). He is 1-10

Unfortunately for De Minaur, Sinner did not even come close to losing. The world No. 8 took care of Paul 6-4, 6-4 for a spot in the final of a Masters 1000 event for the third time in his career. Sinner also advanced by beating Matteo Berrettini in straight sets and Gael Monfils in three.

De Minaur has been similarly impressive in Toronto, ousting Davidovich Fokina, Cameron Norrie, Gabriel Diallo, Taylor Fritz, and Daniil Medvedev while dropping just one set to Fritz. Still, the world No. 18 has played five matches this week and he also reached the Los Cabos final last week. Sinner has played only three matches in Toronto and is extremely well rested.

This is a clear matchup advantage for the Italian, too, so he will likely defeat De Minaur for the fifth time in a row.

Pick: Sinner in 2

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.