NEW YORK — World No. 1 Jannik Sinner arrived in New York greater than two weeks in the past dealing with a slew of questions and scrutiny over the information that he had been exonerated and averted suspension after twice testing constructive for a banned substance in March.
His expectations for the US Open had been “low,” he stated firstly.
However he leaves as a champion, having left little doubt about his standing as the perfect hard-court participant in 2024.
Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy, gained the US Open on Sunday behind a dominant 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 effort towards American Taylor Fritz in entrance of a vigorous, celebrity-filled Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd that was largely towards him. There have been “U-S-A” chants and “Let’s go, Taylor” cheers all through, however Sinner was unfazed. He did not drop a single level on his first serve over the ultimate two units of the match.
“He was too good,” the No. 12-seeded Fritz stated throughout the on-court trophy presentation. He later referred to as Sinner “the perfect participant on this planet proper now.”
Having collected his first main title on the Australian Open in January, Sinner grew to become the third man — and first since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 — to win his first two Grand Slam trophies in the identical season. He is additionally the second Italian participant to win a singles title on the US Open, becoming a member of 2015 ladies’s champion Flavia Pennetta.
For Sinner, the victory marked an emotional finish to a difficult few months. The world discovered on Aug. 20 that he examined constructive for a hint quantity of clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, twice in an eight-day span throughout the Indian Wells match, however was cleared as a result of his use was dominated unintentional — his protection was that the steroid entered his system by way of a therapeutic massage from a staff member he later fired.
“[It] was tough as a result of the pre-tournament circumstances weren’t simple,” Sinner stated Sunday. “I felt that I’ve grown match by match and that my confidence degree went greater and better … I am comfortable how I dealt with this one. I am simply excited to have this trophy with me.”
Sinner has confronted questions all through the match concerning the doping case and what adopted. A number of gamers questioned the equity of the ruling and contemplated whether or not he had obtained particular remedy as a result of his No. 1 rating.
Sinner, for his half, referred to as the scenario a “mistake” and was adamant about his innocence and that he went by way of the “identical course of” as everybody else.
Regardless of the information, Sinner was for essentially the most half warmly obtained by the New York crowd all through his run. Even throughout the closing, dozens of Italian flags had been noticed within the crowd, and his highlight-worthy factors had been met with loud ovations.
After struggling within the opening set of his first match towards American Mackenzie McDonald, Sinner confirmed little weak point the remainder of the way in which. He dropped only one extra set — towards 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev within the quarterfinals — en path to the title.
Fritz, a 26-year-old Californian who was taking part in in his first main closing, opened with an early 3-2 lead, however Sinner responded by profitable the subsequent 4 video games to take the set and management of the match.
Within the third set, with the rating tied at 3-all, Fritz confirmed indicators of life with an overhead winner within the seventh sport for a 15-30 lead on Sinner’s serve. He yelled “Let’s go!” to the delight of the group, most of whom rose to their toes in appreciation. Fritz in the end secured the break and took the subsequent sport on his serve for a 5-3 lead.
However he could not shut out the set. Sinner virtually clinically rattled off the subsequent 4 video games — every level more and more silencing the group — to safe the win.
When it was over, Sinner raised his arms above his head and closed his eyes as he tilted his head again. These in his participant field jumped to their toes whereas Darren Cahill, one in every of his coaches, slumped over in his seat and wiped away tears.
“This title, for me, means a lot,” Sinner instructed the group as he collected the trophy from Andre Agassi, “as a result of the final interval of my profession was actually not simple.”
“I really feel just like the followers clearly, American followers, been wanting a males’s champion for a very long time, and … I am fairly upset with how I performed. I really feel like, I do not know, I really feel like I virtually let lots of people down.”
Taylor Fritz
Sinner, throughout his postmatch information convention, credited his staff and household for maintaining him targeted regardless of every thing happening off the court docket.
“What allowed me to do this was all the time the people who find themselves near me day by day, individuals who know me already from once I was very younger, and likewise my household and my staff and everybody who helps me day by day,” Sinner stated. “I all the time attempt to stick along with them, particularly when the moments are getting tough and hard, as a result of I do know that they might help me in these moments.”
Sinner is the fourth completely different man to win each the Australian Open and US Open in the identical yr since 1988, when the Australian main transitioned from grass to onerous court docket. With Aryna Sabalenka having swept each the Australian Open and US Open, too, it is the primary time that the identical man and the identical lady gained each hard-court majors in the identical yr since 1988 (Mats Wilander and Steffi Graf did in order that yr).
It additionally marked a turning level within the males’s sport as Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, 21, mixed to win all 4 of the yr’s main titles. It is the primary season since 2002 that no member of the “Huge Three” — Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer — gained a Slam.
Sunday was a devastating outcome for Fritz, who had been trying to snap a 21-year main singles title drought by American males. Andy Roddick’s win on the 2003 US Open was the final time an American man gained a Grand Slam, and Fritz was the primary American man to achieve a serious closing since Roddick completed because the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2009.
“There’s clearly loads of positives, and once I get a while to chill down then I will be comfortable about the truth that I made it to the finals,” Fritz stated. “However proper now I am fairly dissatisfied in simply loads of issues on the court docket, how I performed, how I hit sure pictures. It sucks.
“And I am not saying that it essentially would have made a distinction. I do not know if it might have, however I simply would have appreciated to have performed higher and given myself a greater likelihood. It is actually disappointing proper now. … I really feel just like the followers clearly, American followers, been wanting a males’s champion for a very long time, and … I am fairly upset with how I performed. I really feel like, I do not know, I really feel like I virtually let lots of people down.”
Regardless of the heartbreak of the ultimate, Fritz continues to be having a breakthrough yr. He grew to become the primary American man to achieve three main quarterfinals in a season since Roddick (2007) and the primary to make the second week in all 4 Slam occasions since Agassi in 2003.
Along with his run to the championship match, Fritz will now transfer again into the highest 10 within the rankings at No. 7.
Sinner now has a 4,105-point lead over new No. 2 Alexander Zverev. Djokovic, the 2023 champion at Flushing Meadows who was upset within the third spherical, falls to No. 4 behind Alcaraz.
ESPN Analysis and The Related Press contributed to this report.
