Jannik Sinner swept Taylor Fritz to win his first U.S. Open and extend a 21-year American men’s Grand Slam singles title drought.
Top seed Sinner prevailed 6-3, 6-4. 7-5 over Fritz, the first American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Andy Roddick at 2009 Wimbledon.
Roddick was also the last U.S. man to win a Grand Slam singles title at the 2003 U.S. Open.
“I know we’ve been waiting for a champion for a long time,” Fritz told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get it done this time, but I’m going to keep working, and hopefully I’ll get it the next time.”
JANNIK SINNER IS A TWO-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION!! pic.twitter.com/E5VYumaSz6
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2024
Sinner, 23, won the last four games as Fritz failed to serve out the third set. Sinner had trouble serving (51% of first serves in), but averaged just five unforced errors per set aside from double faults.
Sinner, who won the Australian Open in January, is the first Italian man or woman to win multiple Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era (since 1968). Nicola Pietrangeli won the French Open men’s title in 1959 and 1960.
“You never know if you can win one Grand Slam or not, but when you win one, you know that you can do it potentially,” Sinner said.
Six days before this U.S. Open, it was announced that Sinner tested positive twice in March for the anabolic steroid Clostebol but was found by a tribunal to have no fault or negligence.
Tennis anti-doping officials investigated Sinner’s claim that the Clostebol unintentionally came from a physiotherapist who used an over-the-counter spray containing the substance to treat his own skin wound, then gave daily massages to Sinner without using gloves.
The investigators and a separate tribunal both accepted Sinner’s explanation. He was not suspended.
“This title for me means so much because the last period of my career was really not easy,” he said.
Sinner’s expectations for the American hard-court swing were so low that he made a deal with his coach that if he reached one final in three tournaments, including the U.S. Open, he would get a PlayStation 5.
“During this tournament, slowly, I restarted to feel a little bit more how I am as a person,” he said.
In 2024, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, 21, combined to win the four majors in what may mark a new era. None of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer won a major in a calendar year for the first time since 2002.
Despite his defeat, Fritz said he took confidence knowing he never played “incredible” tennis over his seven matches.
Before this run, he was 0-4 in Grand Slam quarterfinals.
“When I get some time to cool down, I’ll be happy about the fact that I made it to the finals and stuff like that,” he said. “But right now, I’m pretty just disappointed ... Obviously, American fans have been wanting a men’s champion for a long time. I’m pretty upset with how I played. I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”
