By Roger Childs

I know we’ve been waiting for a champion for a long time, so I’m sorry I couldn’t get it done this time, but I’m going to keep working and hopefully the next time. –Beaten finalist, American Taylor Fritz

Comfortable win for the top seed

Sinner won the Australian Open back in January, is currently world number one and on Monday became the US Open champion for the first time. Taylor Fritz was keen to become the first American male to win the last grand slam of the year since Andy Roddick in 2003. Fritz had benefited from the second and third seeds – Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic – being knocked out in the third round, and he beat fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the semi-final.

However, despite having most of the crowd behind him, he was well beaten by Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Fritz lost his opening serve and Sinner went on to win the first set easily. The second set went with serve to 4-4 but then the Italian broke the American to take a two-set lead.

A very competitive third set

The early games went with serve then with most of the spectators roaring their support, Fritz recovered from 15-40 down in the sixth game to draw even at 3-3.  From then on the lead ebbed and flowed. There was some impressive tennis by both players – powerful ground strokes, tightly angled cross court shots, excellent retrievals and accurate volleying. 

  • 7th game: Fritz broke the Italian’s serve for the first time, helped by two Sinner double-faults – 4-3 to the American.
  • 8th game: Fritz held his serve to lead 5-3
  • 9th game: Sinner held serve – 5-4 to Fritz.
  • 10th game: Fritz served for the set, but Sinner broke back – 5-5
  • 11th game: Sinner held serve to lead 6-5
  • 12th game: The Italian broke the American’s serve to take the set and the match.

Marion Bartoli of Sky Sport Tennis summed it up. The crowd played their part and really tried to push Fritz to win that third set, but in the end it was not enough. It was a clinical performance from Jannik Sinner. Every single time Fritz raised his level, Sinner was there as well. He could have easily let that third set slip.

In the end, as Fritz said after the match He was just too good.

Both players spoke well at the presentation ceremony about the match, and their appreciation of the organisers, ball kids, fans and their teams. It was fitting that American tennis legend Andre Agassi who won in 1994 and 1999 presented the trophies.

Milestones

Jannik Sinner became the first Italian to win the US Open and only the second Italian grand slam winner in the Open era when tennis became professional. (Adriano Panatta won the French Open in 1976.) Taylor Fritz was the first American finalist for eighteen years.

The era of the three legends — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — may now be over. For the first year since 2002 none of the three won a grand slam.