Jannik Sinner is the newly crowned US Open champion following his straight-sets win over Taylor Fritz in yesterday’s showpiece final at Flushing Meadows.
Sinner was in the mood on the Arthur Ashe Court as the passionate American crowd couldn’t push Fritz to victory in his home Grand Slam.
Fritz did have his moments during the final. When he broke Sinner in the third set it looked as though he could prolong the match to a fourth.
Much like he has done before during 2024, however, Sinner found something within himself to press ahead, starve Fritz of opportunities and see out the match and a maiden US Open title.
Jannik Sinner shares tweak he had to make to overcome Taylor Fritz
Sinner thoroughly deserved his victory at the US Open and in truth, he was very rarely troubled throughout the tournament, losing just one set to Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-final.
Fritz lost the first two sets 6-3, 6-4 but he did roar back in the third. That response forced Sinner into a retreat and afterwards, he admitted that he needed to tweak his gameplan somewhat.
Sinner said during his press conference, recorded on YouTube: “I felt like he was making great adjustments at some point. He was serving much smarter so I changed a couple of things with my return position, trying to let him think a little bit.
“I tried to stay very aggressive from the beginning, even the first point, just to let him know that I would like to make the game and I felt great from the back of the court.
“I was not serving very well, it was letting me down a little bit, but just trying to stay there mentally.”
Sinner could now dominate tennis for many years
The Italian world number one is now well clear at the top of the rankings and his win means it’s the first time since 2002 that one of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic has won a major.
Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have equally shared the Grand Slams this year and perhaps that is the firmest indication yet that a changing of the guard has taken place.
Djokovic needs one more Grand Slam title to make it a quarter of a century when it comes to major titles and he will probably bounce back to lift at least one more before he finishes playing.
However, Sinner is here to stay and a rivalry with Alcaraz could be on the horizon as they look to continue their new streak of Grand Slam wins in the future.
The Italian showed unreal resilience during the US Open. Fritz had no answer to his brilliance last night and he’s also highlighted that he’s not afraid to go off the beaten track when it comes to his gameplan towards glory.
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