Davidovich comes up short and misses out on a spot in final of Canadian Open

Alejandro Davidovich's journey in the Canadian Open came to a premature end on Saturday after coming up short against Alex de Miñaur and missing out on a place in the final.

Despite performing well in this Masters 1000 tournament in Toronto, an apparent lack of desire to win cost him as he lost his semi-final clash 6-1, 6-3 to the Australian who was never overly exerted.

The Malaga tennis star, who was aiming for his second ATP Tour final, started on the back foot by conceding a break. But unlike in previous matches, he was unable to level the contest straight away.

The windy conditions seemed to affect Davidovich, disrupting his precision-based game. And despite previous victories over De Miñaur, Davidovich failed to find his rhythm, displaying impatience during rallies and a lower percentage of points won with his first serves. De Miñaur capitalised on this with his greater maturity.

After losing the first set, Davidovich couldn't regain any momentum and he struggled to find his footing during a series of consecutive breaks.

Although Davidovich's ranking will improve after this performance (up to a career-best 23rd), he needs to strengthen his mental resilience and belief in his abilities to win tournaments consistently.

In the upcoming Cincinnati Masters 1000, the Fuengirola-based athlete faces a tough challenge: if he wins his first-round match against Argentinian Tomás Martín Etcheverry later today, he could cross paths with world number two Novak Djokovic.

World number one, Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile, will enter the tournament a stage later. For him, Toronto was not the success he had hoped for either, losing to USA's Tommy Paul 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.