Jannik Sinner of Italy reacts after defeating Taylor Fritz of the United States to win the men’s singles final match of the US Open tennis tournament, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in New York.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/AP
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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/AP
NEW YORK — Jannik Sinner got off to a slow start at the U.S. Open, dropping the first set after being cleared of a doping case that was not known until just before the tournament began at Flushing Meadows.
If that episode initially haunted him throughout the tournament, Sinner was able to put it aside on the court. He was. No. 1 Sinner beat Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 with his typically relentless baseline play to win the men’s title at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday, less than three weeks after news broke of his two positive drug tests.
“This title means a lot to me, because the last stage of my career was really not easy,” said Sinner, 23, from Italy.
He won the second Grand Slam title of his budding career — the other was at the Australian Open in January — and prevented No. 12 Fritz from ending the American men’s 21-year major title drought.
Andy Roddick’s victory at Flushing Meadows in 2003 was the last Grand Slam title won by a man from the United States. The last person before Fritz, a 26-year-old from California, to even reach the final of one of tennis’s four biggest tournaments was also Roddick, who lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009.
“Being an American at the US Open is amazing. Feeling the love all week. So thank you very much,” Fritz said during the trophy presentation. “I know we’ve been waiting for a champion for a long time, so I’m sorry I couldn’t do it this time. But I’ll keep working and hopefully I can do it next time.”
Still, the tournament was a success in many ways for U.S. tennis, with two women and two men reaching the semifinals for the first time at a major since the 2003 U.S. Open. Jessica Pegula reached the women’s final before losing to Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday.
Sinner improved to 55-5 with six top-level titles on the tour in 2024. That included a 35-2 record on hard court, the surface used at both the Australian Open and the US Open. He is the first man since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 to win his first two Grand Slam titles in the same season.
“I’ve had so many big wins this season,” said Sinner, who took full advantage of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz’s eliminations in Week 1. “But the work never stops.”
On August 20, the world discovered that Sinner had tested positive twice in an eight-day span for small amounts of anabolic steroids in March but was cleared because his use was determined to be unintentional—the banned substance had entered his body through a massage from a team member he later fired.
While some players have questioned whether he received special treatment, most believe he was not trying to dope. And US Open fans have never given him a hard time.
“We just take it day by day… believing in ourselves, that’s the most important thing,” said Sinner, who mentioned an aunt of his who is in poor health. “I understand, especially in this tournament, how important the mental factor is.”
As expected, Fritz enjoyed a bit of a home-field advantage on a cool afternoon under a mostly cloudless sky. In a celebrity-studded crowd that included Taylor Swift and her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Travis Kelce, some spectators occasionally joined in mid-play chants of “USA!” or cheered whenever Fritz scored a big touchdown.
Fritz wasn’t the type to show much emotion beyond swinging his neon-colored racket, even when he was up 3-2 after 20 minutes.
Again, that was Fritz’s last significant highlight until 3-all in the third set, when he hit an overhead kick to win the match and make it 15-30, punched the air and shouted, “Let’s go!” The crowd stood up, clapping and cheering. When Fritz hit a winning volley to break a minute later, he celebrated in the same way, and the thousands in the seats went wild. Then Sinner double-faulted to put Fritz up 4-3.
But when he tried to serve for 5-4, Fritz was weak enough for Sinner to level with a break. Sinner used a drop shot to lure Fritz out to the front court, then missed a shot that Fritz volleyed into the net. Fritz bounced his racket out of the court. Sinner ran to the towel box, not even smiling.
About 10 minutes later, Sinner won the four-game series. When the match ended, Sinner raised his arms, tilted his head back, and closed his eyes.
He often asserts himself in matches in a way that’s perhaps best described as laid-back. His style is less spectacular than assured, less magical than rhythmic. Either way, he’s a master, using his long limbs and squeaky skates to get to things before unleashing a succession of high-speed shots right near the finish line—and often succeeding.
Neither player seemed interested in getting forward on Sunday unless forced to, instead content to hit forehands and backhands from the back of the court.
That’s definitely Sinner’s territory.
In the end, Sinner, the second Italian to win a US Open singles title, along with 2015 women’s singles champion Flavia Pennetta, had an impressive record: only 21 unforced errors, 13 fewer than Fritz, and won 23 match points.
Going into the match, it looked like Fritz could stay competitive as long as he played to his potential, especially on serve. If that was the case, the opening set turned out to be less than ideal for him.
He hit 36 percent of his first serves, hit just two aces—a total exceeded in the first game of the second set alone—and finished with twice as many unforced errors (12) as decisive errors (five).
Those stats would improve on Fritz’s part, but he just couldn’t find a way to consistently get Sinner into trouble. Few can do that these days.
“It was impressive,” Fritz admitted. “He was so good.”
