Forza! Sinner Powers His Way Past Fritz To Win The US Open

Jannik Sinner, US Open
Jannik Sinner (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, September 9, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

On a gorgeous late-summer day for a major final, filled with sunshine and low humidity, there was a hint of autumn surrounding the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. It was championship Sunday at the US Open, the final day of the 2024 Flushing Meadows fortnight.

Inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the roof open and 24,000 fans filled to the rafters – and with plenty of celebrity athletes like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, and entertainers such as Taylor Swift and Dustin Hoffman on hand – it was World No. 1 Jannik Sinner‘s day to shine. He proved the stronger player on court, where it counted.

In a matter of two hours and 16 minutes – what must have seemed like an eternity to challenger Taylor Fritz of the United States – the 23-year-old from Italy made a clean sweep of this year’s hard-court Grand Slams by winning the US Open men’s singles title over Fritz, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. He did it with power mixed with finesse – and with Fritz, the two shared plenty of memorable rallies. But the American just couldn’t get the job done.

Instead, Sinner overcame 10 aces and 29 overall winners by Fritz by hitting six aces and 23 overall winners of his own, as well as winning 88 percent of his first-serve points. He converted six of 12 break-point opportunities, saved five of seven break points he faced from Fritz and outpointed his opponent 96-79. It was his 11th straight victory going back to his title run at the ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati Open.

“I did pretty well I guess,” Sinner said at the beginning of his champion’s speech with ESPN‘s Chris McKendry. In addition to beating Fritz, Sinner scored victories over Mackenzie McDonald, Alex Michelsen, Christopher O’Connell, Tommy Paul, Daniil Medvedev and Jack Draper. After dropping the opening set in the first round to McDonald, Sinner won 21 consecutive sets.

“This title means so much, because the last period of my career was really not easy. I love tennis, I practice a lot for these stages. I understood, especially in this tournament, how important the mental part is in this sport. I’m very happy, very proud to share this moment with my team.”

The title meant Sinner had become the first Italian man in US Open history to capture the champion’s trophy. He joins Flavia Pannetta, who won the woman’s title in 2015, as the only Italian singles champions in the tournament’s history.

Sinner (55-5 this season) has now moved 4,105 points ahead of Alexander Zverev of Germany, his nearest challenger in the battle to win ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honors.

Meanwhile, the loss by Fritz, 26 from California, continued the American men’s drought in New York. Andy Roddick, who attended Sunday’s final, was the last American man to win the US Open back in 2003. Not even Roddick or another Hall of Famer, Andre Agassi, who presented the champion’s trophy to Sinner, could will Fritz to victory. He reached the final after garnering an emotional five-set semifinal victory over fellow countryman Frances Tiafoe on Friday night. Now, American men’s tennis will have to wait another year for a Grand Slam champion.

“That’s just kind of how it goes, when you’re playing, you know – he’s the best player in the world right now,” Fritz admitted in his post-match news conference. “My Plan A is not working. The Plan B that I fall back on would normally be just like bringing everything in, being a little bit safer, grinding it out. That works along with my serve, against a lot of players. But against him … He’s just going to bully me a little bit too much. …

“I know we have been waiting for a champion for a long time, so I’m sorry I couldn’t get it done this time,” Fritz added. “I’m going to keep working and hopefully I will get in the next time.”

Sinner spoiled the American’s party on Ashe and his victory bookended his earlier Australian Open crown, which he won in January. In all, the South Tyrolean has won all six finals he’s played in this season – Melbourne, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati and Flushing Meadows. He’s just the fourth man to win both hard-court majors in a single season, joining Mats Wilander (1988), Roger Federer (2004, 2006, 2007) and Novak Djokovic (2011, 2015, 2023).

“Incredible, no? So many big wins for me this season. Starting off with Australia and playing so well there which gave me confidence until now,” Sinner said. “The work never stops. I know I can still improve. As we saw today, a couple things.

“You have to be proud of what you have. The rest, you have to go for it and work for it. I can’t wait for my continued process.”

Sinner becomes the 11th different US Open men’s singles champion since 2008. In the same time frame, the Australian Open, Roland-Garros and the Wimbledon Championships have each been won by five different men. It also marks the first year since 2002 that a Grand Slam has not been won by Federer, Djokovic or Rafael Nadal. Instead, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz split the four major trophies, with Sinner winning the Australian Open and US Open while Alcaraz prevailed at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.

“It’s a bit different, for sure,” Sinner said during his champion’s news conference. “I mean, it’s something new, but it’s also nice to see. Nice to see new champions. Nice to see new rivalries.”

Around the US Open

Rafael Jodar of Spain and Great Britain’s Mika Stojsavljevic won the US Open junior boys’ and girls’ championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Saturday.

The 17-year-old Jodar, who was seeded 12th, upset No. 1 seed Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, the reigning Wimbledon junior boys’ champion, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (1), in two hours and six minutes on Court 11.

Jodar served eight aces, won 77 percent of his first-serve points, hit 26 winners and converted three of seven break points. He saved eight of 11 break points he faced, including seven of eight in the final set, and outpointed his opponent 93-84.

“I’m in a dream right now,” said Jodar, who will play collegiate tennis next spring at the University of Virginia in the United States. “It was a battle. I want to congratulate also Nicolai for the tournament and for the match. It’s been a pleasure to play a final against him.

“I’m really proud of myself,” Jodar added during his champion’s news conference. “I think all the work I’ve been doing this season, not only this season, just in general, in my whole life, has been showed here in this tournament.”

Meanwhile, the unseeded Stojsavljevic beat No. 7 seed Wakana Sonobe of Japan, 6-4, 6-4, in an hour and 25 minutes on Court 12 to become the first champion from Great Britain since Heather Watson in 2009. The British 15-year-old won 91 percent of her first-serve points, hit 14 winners, converted three of eight break points, saved four of five break points she faced, and outpointed Sonobe 68-60.

“I think it was a really good match,” said Stojavljevic, who lives in Ealing, West London. “She played really well, and I think we both stepped up our level in the second set. I think it was not something that I maybe expected, but I’m super happy.”

En route to the title, Stojsavljevic’s run included two major upsets. In the third round, she eliminated Australian No. 1 seed Emerson Jones, 7-5, 6-4; and in the semifinals she powered past American No. 3 seed Iva Jovic, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.

Top seeds Maxim Mrva of the Czech Republic and Rei Sakamoto of Japan defeated unseeded Denis Petak of the Czech Republic and Flynn Thomas of Switzerland, 7-5, 7-6 (1), to win the junior boys’ doubles title.

Unseeded Malak El Allami of Morocco and Emily Sartz-Lunde of Norway beat Julie Pastikova of the Czech Republic and Julia Stusek of Germany, 6-2, 4-6, 10-6, to win the junior girls’ title.

By the numbers

Jannik Sinner leads the ATP Tour in titles (6) and hard-court wins (35) this season. He extended his unbeaten record in finals this season, after previously winning titles at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Halle and at ATP Masters 1000 events in Miami and Cincinnati to become the fifth active man to capture multiple Grand Slam titles.

Meanwhile, Sinner joins Jimmy Connors (1974) and Guillermo Vilas (1977) as the third man in the Open Era to win his first two Grand Slam titles in the same season.

“Quotable …”

“I know that I have to go for it. That’s the only way it works for me. Every time I stop my arms and the ball flies in the stands – so long time ago I decided for myself in that those important moments I just have to go for it, I have to swing.

“If I’m going to swing till the end without stopping my arms, I know the ball going to go in, so that’s, like, that’s the only option for me.”

— US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, during her champion’s news conference Saturday night, in describing her freewheeling style of hitting.

 

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