Jannik Sinner came to Flushing Meadows under the cloud of not one but two failed drug tests in March. He left on cloud nine as U.S. Open champion.
The world’s top-ranked player looked the part, beating American Taylor Fritz, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, in Sunday’s final at a partisan Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“Here was difficult because the pre-tournament circumstances weren’t easy. I felt like I’ve grown match-by-match and that my confidence level went higher and higher,” Sinner said. “I’m happy how I handled this one. I’m just excited to have this trophy with me.”
The star-studded crowd — including Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Matthew McConaughey, Usher and Elon Musk — had urged on Fritz.
The Californian was the first American man to reach a Slam final since 2009 — and first here in Flushing since 2006.
But he’d been hoping for more: to become the first to win a Slam since 2003.
“It sucks,” Fritz said.
“I just would’ve liked to have played better and given myself a better chance. It’s really disappointing right now. I feel like the fans obviously — American fans — have been wanting a men’s champion for a long time, and I’m pretty upset with how I played. I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”
Meanwhile, Sinner — who cashed in on Week 1 exits by Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz — has now bookended his breakout season with Australian and U.S. Open titles.
The Italian is the unquestioned hard-court king, riding his powerful forehand to a 35-2 mark on the surface this year and 14-0 in Slams.
And he took the elephant in the room — those failed doping tests — and ushered it right out of the room and off the grounds.
News broke on Aug. 20 — just days before the U.S. Open began — that Sinner had tested positive twice in March for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid.
The Italian had faced the prospect of a multiyear ban. But after a six-hour online hearing, a tribunal cleared him because the banned substance had entered his body unintentionally, during a massage from a since-fired team member.
While some players and analysts groused that Sinner avoided suspension purely because of his rank, he didn’t let that distract him.
“It was and it’s still a little bit in my mind. It’s not that it’s gone, but when I’m on court, I try to focus about the game,” Sinner said. “So yeah, it was not easy, that’s for sure. But I tried to stay focused, which I guess I’ve done a great job mentally staying there every point I played.”
After dropping the first set in Flushing Meadows, he didn’t lose another.
Sinner’s forehand is such a weapon he didn’t even have to take risks. He made just 21 unforced errors, while Fritz committed 34 and was just 2 of 7 on break points.
Like he had in his semifinal comeback vs. fellow American Frances Tiafoe, Fritz — the son of former pros Guy Fritz and Kathy May — started slow and came on late.
After holding to go up 3-2 in the first, Fritz saw Sinner take the last four games to claim the set 6-3.
Fritz started to serve better in the second set. It was on serve at 5-4, until Sinner won a 14-shot rally to break and take the set.
When Fritz finally found his game in the third, the crowd exhorted him with throaty chants of “USA! USA!” It was 3-all and he set up a double break point. Fritz showed he had a forehand too, pumping his fist as he broke to go up 4-3.
Fritz actually served for the set, but got broken when he got pulled up to the net and sent his volley into the net.
Sinner didn’t crack under Fritz’s pressure the way Tiafoe had. He held to go up 6-5, then earned double championship points.
He needed just the one — Fritz’s return into the net — to win a title that he dedicated to his ailing aunt, whom he fears may not have much longer.
“She’s a very important person [in my life] because when my parents were working every day and all day, sometimes … I went with her,” Sinner said.
“Especially when I had this difficult time, I tried to see it in a different way. Sport, things can happen unfortunately, but real life is something different. We travel a lot so it’s difficult to spend time with the people who you really love, but if I’d have more time, for sure I’d spend more time with the people I really care.”
