The only favourite despite psychological difficulties, Jannik Sinner confirmed that he was the best player of the year by winning his second Grand Slam title of the season on Sunday at the US Open.
“My year is incredible. I have had so many big wins, already in Australia where I played very well, which gave me confidence until today. I can still improve things. You have to work for the titles, I am looking forward to continuing this process,” said Sinner after completely mastering American Taylor Fritz in the final 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in 2h16.
Arms raised, eyes closed, head thrown back, then a long look towards his box before coming to greet his opponent and returning to the middle of the court, his face still closed, to greet the public: Fritz’s last ball stopped in the net and Sinner seems more relieved than happy. Finally, he exults as he falls into the arms of his coaches and his girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya.
“It means a lot to me, the last few days haven’t been easy. I’ve been able to rely on my team every day and on my family. I love tennis, but I also realise the importance of what happens off the court. My aunt is not well at the moment, I dedicate my title to her. She’s an important person in my life,” explained the Italian.
Winner of the Australian Open in January, the Italian became world number one in June at the age of 22 and ended his summer on hard courts with a bang with a title in Cincinnati and, above all, a title in Flushing Meadows, now at the age of 23.
– Undefeated in the final –
On hard court this year, he has won 35 matches so far, more than any other player.
And he won his sixth title of the season in New York, better than anyone else, after the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Halle, and the Masters 1000 in Miami and Cincinnati. In addition, Sinner is undefeated in finals this season.
Only three other players have managed to win both hard-court Majors in the same year (since 1988 when the Australian tournament moved from grass to hard): Mats Wilander (1988), Roger Federer (2004, 2006 and 2007), and Novak Djokovic (2011, 2015, 2023).
It is true that he did not have to face his main generational adversary Carlos Alcaraz who did not manage to reach the semi-finals where the shock was expected. But this year, the two players shared the four Majors, the Spaniard having won at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.
“Congratulations Jannik! You deserve it! Enjoy the moment,” Alcaraz immediately congratulated him.
Although he was particularly discreet during the fortnight that began in difficulty and his mind still clouded by the doping affair made public five days before the start of the tournament and for which he was cleared, Sinner ended on a high note.
“Jannik was just too strong,” Fritz admitted.
– Excuses –
The latter took a little too long to settle his serve and immediately found himself trailing 2-0 in the first set.
But he scored three straight games to lead 3-2.
From there, Sinner reeled off five games to take the first set and lead 1-0 in the second.
Each player then held their serve until Sinner stepped up the pace to break in the final game of the set, on the only break point of the set.
The Italian thus started the third set by serving.
Undemonstrative by nature and clearly dominated, Fritz had a lot of trouble rousing the public who were nevertheless ready to get excited for him.
In a few points in the third set, however, Fritz managed to get the crowd on their feet and break to lead 4-3 at a time when the match seemed one-sided.
The American served for the set at 5-4 but, as if unaffected by the pressure, Sinner cancelled the break and rolled on to victory.
Fritz was playing in his first Grand Slam final and trying to become the first American to win at Flushing Meadows since Andy Roddick in 2003.
“I know we’ve been waiting for a winner for a long time, so I’m sorry we didn’t get there,” Fritz apologized to the crowd, holding back tears.
rg-ig/chc
