ATP Masters in Toronto, Round of 16, Friday, 11.08.2023
The past plays against the future! Andy Murray and Jannik Sinner won’t quite be able to deny that their duel next Friday at the 2023 Canadian Masters will be in that category.
With Betano ahead, it’s the man who represents youth, the new generation. In my Murray Sinner tip, however, I will now reveal why I believe that 20 games is not enough for this match!
In 2006, the name Andy Murray appeared on the scoreboards of the Canada Masters for the first time, an incredible 17 years ago! By comparison, his upcoming opponent, Jannik Sinner, was only four or five years old at the time.
The unequal duel should thrill us on Friday night, Murray of course knows exactly how to play here in Toronto (alternating with Montreal). In 2015, 2010 and 2009, after all, he stood at the top here.
The three-time champion knows that he is no longer one of the top favourites at major, star-studded tournaments. He has already competed twice in Toronto in 2023, the results were quite different.
In the 1st round he faced Lorenzo Sonego, won smoothly 7-6, 6-0. One set was a bit bumpy, the other one was in the category of dismantling, even with 36 years you can show two different faces within one match.
Then Max Purcell was waiting, and this time Murray really had to fight harder. In the end he won 7-6, 3-6, 7-5, his opponent made life difficult for him and was only weaker in the second service.
Murray brought a staggering 96% of his first serves successfully over the net, and he could not be criticised on his second serve. After narrowly losing to Taylor Fritz in the round of 16 at the Citi Open in Washington, he doesn’t want to end up in this round again.
In our 2023 betting provider ranking, however, the Scottish-born player gets the short end of the stick, the odds for the match against Jannik Sinner come to an average of 3.75 to 1.30.
In 2021 and 2022, the two have already met head-to-head, both collecting one win each. So Jannik Sinner should know that you have to take an Andy Murray seriously and fear him at really any age.
The world number eight wants to make Canada his patch, because so far he has not succeeded in doing so. Last year’s round of 16 was his best result, when he was beaten by eventual champion Pablo Carreno Busta
This time it should go better, and the South Tyrolean has already set the first exclamation mark. Matteo Berrettini was a really tough opponent to start with, and he put him in his place with an immensely strong 6-4, 6-3.
He managed to fend off all seven of his opponent’s break chances and won 80% of his first service points. After his semi-final at Wimbledon, his first ever at a Grand Slam, Sinner is hoping for the best possible preparation for the US Open.
The 21-year-old, who could celebrate his 22nd birthday in Toronto in a few days, has reached three finals on hard court in the first half of the season and won one title. So this surface definitely suits him!
My Murray Sinner Tip
Jannik Sinner still has 15 years to go, Andy Murray rather almost 20 behind him! It’s a bit of a duel of the generations that we’ll see on Friday. Neither of them can reach the quarter-finals, they have each won a direct encounter.
In my eyes, Sinner may (by now) be the better player in terms of quality, his performance against Matteo Berrettini was really convincing. However, you should never write off Murray, because he can fight incredibly, I recommend the following tip:
We will see more than 20,5 games!
