With Fritz Versus Sinner, A New US Open Men’s Champion Will Be Crowned

Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, September 7, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

No American man has reached the final of the US Open since 2006. Friday evening before a sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium, Taylor Fritz ended that drought in Flushing Meadows.

In a semifinal battle between two 26-year-old Americans from different coasts, No. 12 seed Fritz from California and No. 20 seed Frances Tiafoe of Maryland, Fritz prevailed in five hard-fought, spirited sets, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, in three hours and 18 minutes.

Now, Fritz is a victory away from becoming the first an American to win a major title since Andy Roddick won the 2003 US Open crown. He will face top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy, who earlier Friday defeated No. 25 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2, in three hours and three minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

In his first major semifinal, Fritz delivered a win for the ages to move into his first Grand Slam title match. He struck 16 aces, hit 42 overall winners, broke Tiafoe’s serve six times in 11 attempts and outpointed his friend and foe 140-122. Tiafoe countered with 11 aces, hit 38 winners but also committed 50 unforced errors. He converted four of five break-point chances.

By the end of the night, it was Fritz who raised his arms and celebration. However, he also shared a warm Tiafoe with at the net. All was good between the two. Fritz had become the first American men’s singles finalist at a major since Roddick reached the 2009 Wimbledon final and the first at the US Open since Roddick 18 years ago. He’s now the 12th American man to reach the US Open final in the Open Era.

“It’s the reason I do what I do, the reason why I work so hard,” Fritz said, fighting back tears, during his on-court interview with ESPN’s Christopher Eubanks. “I’m in the finals of the US Open. It’s a dream come true and I’m going to give it everything I possibly have. I know that for a fact.”

Meanwhile, Tiafoe wondered what might have been. “It’s tough. It’s really, really tough. Really, really tough to swallow,” he said in his news conference. “This one’s going to hurt really, really bad.”

In the opening semifinal, the World No. 1 Sinner became the first Italian man to reach the US Open title match, with his three-hour, three-minute victory over the 25th-seeded Draper. It was Sinner’s 10th straight win going back to his title run last month at the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Open. He’s also won titles this season at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami and Halle, and became the first player to qualify for the year-end Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

On Friday, the worse Sinner and Draper each felt – whether it be the 22-year-old Draper vomiting on court multiple times from the 77-degree Fahrenheit heat and 69-percent humidity or Sinner taking a baseline spill on his left wrist in one of the strangest points of the tournament – the better they played.

Sinner and Draper played through physical and mental demons that pushed each to their limits. In the opening set, Draper lost his serve for only the fourth time in the tournament, then broke back. He was up 5-4 but Sinner toughened and pulled out the set. It was a portend of things to come.

Next, the second set, alone, which ended with Sinner winning in a tie-break, lasted 89 minutes – the second-longest set of the tournament. By then, Draper looked spent – he was unable to raise his energy level – and Sinner continued with a steady but brutal pace in the closing set.

By the end, Sinner’s solid 77-percent first-serve winning percentage was significantly higher than Draper’s 67 percent and the British lefty’s 10 double faults didn’t help his cause, either. Sinner fired 10 aces, hit 43 overall winners, converted four of 11 break points and took advantage of Draper’s 43 unforced errors. He outpointed his opponent 129-98.

When Sinner secured match point, ending a brave effort by Draper in his first major semifinal, he raised his arms in the air in celebration – understatedly as is his fashion – but the look on his face showed how much the semifinal victory meant to him.

“Me and Jack, we know each other very well,” the 23-year-old Sinner said in his on-court interview with ESPN‘s James Blake. “We are good friends off the court. … It was a very physical match as we see, and I just tried to stay there me mentally. He’s very tough to beat.

“I’m just happy to be in the final,” Sinner added. “Whomever it is, it’s going to be a big challenge for me. Finals are very special to me. Every Sunday you get to play a final it means you are doing an amazing job.”

During his post-match news conference, Draper remained upbeat. “When I came here last year I was 120 in the world, barely played the whole season. I think I’ll be leaving here this week Top 20,” he said. “I’m breaking new barriers down the whole time of what I think is possible.”

Sinner became just the fifth man this century to garner 22 or more major wins in a single season, joining Novak Djokovic (8), Roger Federer (6), Rafael Nadal (6), and Andy Murray (2).

Kickenok postpones wedding, wins US Open women’s doubles with Ostapenko

Lyudmyla Kichenok, the talented 17th-ranked doubles player from Ukraine, was supposed to get married this week to Stas Khmarskiy, Jelena Ostapenko‘s coach. Instead, a run to the US Open women’s doubles title caused a slight change of plans. No worries, though.

Friday afternoon on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the No, 7 seeds Kichenok and Ostapenko of Latvia, who is ranked 18th, won their first major title as a team, defeating unseeded Kristina Mladenovic of France and Zhang Shuai of China, 6-4, 6-3, in one hour and 28 minutes.

Engaged more than a year ago, Kichenok and Khmarskiy had made plans to for the wedding to be in New York during the US Open.

“We were figuring out all the things, where we can do that. And yeah, he found a spot here and he just booked an appointment for Wednesday,” Kichenok said. “He told me that. I was like, ‘OK, yeah, let’s go.'”

Instead, Kichenok and Ostapenko, who earlier this year won tournaments in Brisbane and Eastbourne – and have now won five career titles together – kept winning. Together, they didn’t drop a set in their six tournament wins and in the end collected $750,000 to split together.

“No, it’s a good excuse to postpone it a bit,” Ostapenko said during the trophy ceremony.

Kichenok dedicated the victory to her home country Ukraine.

“They are fighting really hard for our freedom right now and I just hope I can give them some encouragement,” Kichenok said, “and my heart is with them.”

Friday’s US Open results

Saturday’s US open order of play

By the numbers

Jack Draper joined Pablo Carreño Busta at the 2017 US Open and Tomas Berdych at the 2010 Roland Garros as the only men this century to reach their first Grand Slam semifinal without dropping a set.

Jannik Sinner has enjoyed deep runs at all four majors this year, winning the Australian Open for his first Grand Slam title, reaching the semifinals of Roland-Garros, the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the finals of the US Open.

“Quotable …”

“Jannik’s got huge experience already. The reason why he’s No. 1 in the world (and) barely losing matches is because he’s so consistent. His intensity, his ball speed, he has barely got any weaknesses, and he’s just able to be there point by point and raise his level when he needs to.

“Mentally, physically, emotionally, everything’s constantly improving, and he’s rock solid in all areas. He’s tough to beat.”

— No. 25 seed Jack Draper, during his post-match news conference Friday after losing to Jannik Sinner in the US Open semifinals.

“Taylor and I had a conversation about being No. 1, No. 2 Americans for a very long time. I remember we were sitting on a plane some years ago, and he’s a pretty to-himself kind of dude, and he’s, like, ‘Bro, I think me and you are going to be one, two Americans and leading the way.’”

— World No. 20 Frances Tiafoe, during his post-match news conference Tuesday after defeating ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov, in advance of facing Taylor Fritz in the first all-American semifinal at the US Open since Andre Agassi played Robby Ginepri in 2005.

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