Sinner beats Fritz in US Open final despite controversy

Jannik Sinner is the 2024 US Open men’s singles champion, defeating America’s Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-5, 7-5 to win the year’s final Grand Slam on Sunday afternoon in New York.

In doing so, Sinner becomes the first Italian to win multiple majors in singles play.

His US Open success comes off the back of a maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier in 2024, making him only the fourth player to win their first two majors in the same calendar year.

Speaking to media after the match, Sinner revealed that his US Open title was extra sweet considering the circumstances that surrounded it.

“We are all very proud of this achievement,” the 23-year-old said.

“It’s an amazing feeling.

“Here was difficult because also the pre-tournament circumstances weren’t easy.

“I’m happy how I handled this one and have this trophy with me.”

Sinner triumphs despite doping scandal

The week before the US Open, news broke that Sinner had failed two drug tests in March 2024.

While the Italian was cleared of any wrongdoing, there was a cloud over him heading into the tournament.

Other players questioned why Sinner had not received a provisional suspension as others had, while critics twisted the narrative around his drug use.

However, Sinner managed to push the scandal to the side and produce some of his best tennis in New York.

“It’s not that it’s gone, but when I’m on court, I try to focus about the game, I try to handle the situation the best possible way,” he said.

“It was not easy, that’s for sure.

“But in the other way I tried to stay focused, which I guess I’ve done a great job mentally staying there every point I play, and that’s it.”

Tennis bookmakers had Sinner on the third line of betting pre-tournament.

Bovada put him on +300, behind French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz (+175) and 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic (+200).

However, when both Alcaraz and Djokovic suffered shock defeats in the first week of the tournament, Sinner became the heavy favourite.

He lived up to this tag, dropping just two sets across his seven matches in New York.

Fritz frustrated with US Open final performance

Fritz, on the other hand, expressed disappointment at the level he produced in the US Open final.

The 26-year-old was playing in his first Grand Slam final, having never progressed beyond the last eight before.

However, vying to become the first American man since 2003 to win a major singles title, Fritz was consistently outplayed by Sinner.

“I had a plan of what I wanted to do going out, but a lot of it I didn’t do well,” Fritz said after the match.

“I didn’t hit the ball as well as I expected to.

“That’s something that’s big if I wanted to just go back and forth and ball-strike with him, because he’s such an amazing ball-striker.

“When 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 other players.

“But against him, I tried to kind of bring it down, not be as aggressive, and he’s just going to bully me a little bit too much.

“It was tough that I guess my plan A wasn’t really working for me until, like, the third set I started to kind of get it going.”

Fritz did have an opportunity to extend the match to a fourth set following a strong passage of play in the third, but he failed to serve the set out.

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