It was Sinner’s first ATP Masters 1000 tournament title and the second by an Italian after Fabio Fognini beat Serbia’s Dušan Lajović in Monte Carlo in 2019.

“It’s a great result that I share with all the people who are close to me,” Sinner, 21, said in the presentations, before congratulating his opponent.

“It’s nice to be on the court with you. I hope to see you in the world’s top ten soon.”

De Minaur meanwhile is content to keep “chipping away” after earning a new career-high ranking on the cusp of the top 10 with another breakout week in the US.

He will rise to world No.12 after falling short in his bid to capture a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title.

It was Sinner’s sixth win from as many meetings in their rivalry, but de Minaur was left feeling anything but disheartened.

Having also lost to world No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas in last week’s Los Cabos final, the tenacious baseliner was only drawing positives from reaching successive title deciders for the first time.

“Looking at the results, I’m pretty happy with where my level is at and how I’m continuously chipping away towards my goals,” the 24-year-old said.

“Step by step, I feel like I’m getting better. I’m showing my level against top opponents, day in and day out.

“This week was a great week for me. I’m feeling confident. I’m going to be ranked 12 and I’ve still got plenty of areas to improve on.

“I think it’s going to be the case my whole career but that’s the beauty of it, so it’s exciting for me.”

De Minaur’s fresh rankings high is one spot better than countryman Nick Kyrgios’s career-best standing and a huge morale booster ahead of the US Open starting in two weeks.

But the Canadian spoils belong to Sinner, who after losing two Miami Open finals, in 2021 to Hubert Hurkacz and this year to Daniil Medvedev, has finally snared a Masters 1000 ATP crown.

He is the youngest Canadian ATP Masters champion since Alexander Zverev won as a 20-year-old in 2017.

“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.

“It makes us feel good, stronger and hungry to work even harder in the future.”

Both players were contesting their fourth final of the year, after de Minaur claimed his seventh career title in Acapulco and then lost to world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s, and then to Tsitsipas in Mexico.

De Minaur had never even reached the quarter-finals at a Masters 1000 event before this week.

He overcame seeds Cameron Norrie, Taylor Fritz and Medvedev to break new ground.

As well as his rankings spike, de Minaur will also soar five spots to 10th in the Race To Turin as he strives to qualify for the eight-man season-ending championships for a first time.

“It was a breakthrough week for me,” he said.

“I played some great tennis and it gave me a taste of it. My maiden (Masters 1000) final and I will be back.”

ANSA & AAP