2024-09-09 14:21:45
Italian Jannik Sinner won his first US Open on Sunday and shattered the dream of American Taylor Fritz, who aspired to be the first local champion in 21 years. World number one and winner of the Australian Open this year, Sinner crushed the local tennis player with scores of 6-3, 6-4 and 7-5 in two hours and 15 minutes.
Since 2003 with Andy Roddick, American fans have not celebrated a men’s title at Flushing Meadows. Sinner’s victory also served as a personal vindication after the controversy of recent weeks over his positive doping test at Indian Wells, which went unpunished after the authorities concluded that it had been an error on the part of his physiotherapist.
“This title means a lot to me. The last period of my career was not easy. My team supports me every day, the people I have close to me.”said Sinner about what happened. “We went day by day, trying to train well, believing in ourselves, which is the most important thing. I understood, especially in this tournament, how important the mental part is in sport. “I am very happy and very proud to share this moment with my team,” he added after the victory, which he dedicated to an aunt who is seriously ill.
Sinner has six titles so far this year, all of them on fast trackand has now won 12 matches in a row, having also won the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. “There are many great victories for me this season, starting with Australia. Playing so well there has given me confidence so far. But the work never stops, I know I can still improve,” he said.
He also became the fourth tennis player in history to win two hard-court Grand Slams in the same year. The others are tennis giants like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Mats Wilander. “I think I’ve done pretty well, I guess,” Sinner joked of his performance.
The 23-year-old Italian aims to lead the generational change in men’s tennis after the ‘Big Three’ alongside Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (21 years old)so much so that they have shared the four major titles this year, as the Spaniard won Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
After the early and surprising eliminations of second seed Djokovic and third seed AlcarazSinner remained the favorite at the US Open and lived up to expectations: He only lost two sets in the entire tournament and along the way he knocked out some fearsome rivals such as the Russian Daniil Medvedev.
Arthur Ashe Stadium was New York’s most sought-after playground on Sunday and numerous entertainment and sports stars were seen in the stands, including Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Bad Bunny, Patrick Mahomes, Matthew McConaughey, Usher, Jayson Tatum and Jon Bon Jovi.
Sinner firm, Fritz surpassed
It can’t be easy to play your first Grand Slam final, doing it on the biggest tennis court in the world, in your own country and with the pressure of more than two decades without an American champion. Perhaps that burden weighed on Fritz at the start, as he gave up his first serve with a childish error on a smash. Sinner, without having to risk too much, looked increasingly comfortable in the long rallies and sealed the first set with another break in just 41 minutes.
The trend increased in the second set and it seemed that everything was going to be fast. Down two sets and losing for good, Fritz loosened his grip, broke and had a chance to serve out the game for a 1-2 lead. However, he let a volley into the net and allowed Sinner to tie it up again. From there, the tennis player who as a child dreamed of being a skier did not take long to seal the match and secure his second major.on a day that was magical for Italy and depressing once again for the US.