An inspired Jannik Sinner secured his second major of the year with a 6-3 6-4 7-5 victory over Taylor Fritz in the men’s US Open final this evening.
After seeing off Britain’s Jack Draper in Friday’s one-sided semi-final, Sinner picked up where he left off, breaking home favourite Fritz in the opening game in New York.
Fritz, the first American man in a major singles final in 15 years, battled back from going 2-0 down to make it 3-3, only for Sinner to pull away and take the first set 6-3 in emphatic fashion.
In the second, Fritz dug deep to stick with Sinner, causing the world No.1 real problems with his serve and a series of exceptional groundstrokes at a rowdy Flushing Meadows – where the likes Taylor Swift, Jon Bon Jovi and Matthew McConaughey were in attendance.
But Sinner again proved his champion credentials with a sublime backhand down the line to break Fritz and seal the second set 6-4 with just one unforced error, taking the Italian to within touching distance of the title.
Arthur Ashe Stadium erupted as a spirited Fritz broke to take a 4-3 lead in an absorbing third set but Sinner returned the favour to make it 5-5 before breaking again to win 7-5 and get himself over the line.
The result secured Sinner the second Grand Slam title of his career, with the 23-year-old adding to his triumph over Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final back in January.
Sinner, who has won six titles this year, becomes the youngest man to clinch both hard-court majors in the same season and only the fourth male player in history to achieve the feat – after Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Mats Wilander.
Meanwhile, Fritz’s defeat means the United States’ long wait for a men’s major winner goes on.
Andy Roddick was the last American man to triumph at a Grand Slam when he beat Juan Carlos Ferrero to win the US Open back in 2003.
‘First of all I would like to start with Taylor, I know how much work he puts in. You are doing an amazing job, congratulations to you, Taylor, and your team,’ Sinner said shortly after collecting the trophy from Andre Agassi.
‘It’s so nice to see you on big stages like this and I’m quite sure that you are going to play many of those. I wish you the best of luck for the future.
‘This title for me means so much because the last period of my career was really not easy.
‘There is my team who support me every day, the people who are close to me. I love tennis, I practice a lot for these kind of stages but I also realise that off the court there is a life.’
Sinner dedicated the victory to his auntie who has been struggling with an illness.
‘I would like to dedicate this title to my aunt because she is really not feeling well health-wise, I don’t know how much I have her in my life so it’s so nice that I can still share a positive moment with her,’ he added.
‘She was a very important for my life and she still is so if there would be the biggest wish, I would wish everyone the best health but unfortunately it’s not possible.’
A visibly dejected Fritz passed on his congratulations to Sinner and admitted the better man won on the day.
‘It’s been an amazing two weeks. First off, congratulations to Jannik, he played a great match,’ the 12th seed said.
‘Congratulations to his team. It was really impressive and he was too good.
‘I want to say thanks to my whole team, it’s amazing to have such an amazing support system around me and they really make this possible.’
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