It was heartbreaking for Taylor Fritz at the US Open yesterday as he lost in straight sets to Jannik Sinner during his maiden Grand Slam final.
Fritz had reached the showpiece finale by overcoming Alexander Zverev and Frances Tiafoe in the last eight and last four respectively.
Sinner had been a man on a mission, however. He now sits well clear at the top of the world rankings and has claimed a second Grand Slam title of the year.
Fritz had his moments in the entertaining final but ultimately he couldn’t stand up to the defensive resistance of Sinner during the Flushing Meadows final.
Both players will now reflect on a memorable tournament for differing factors. Sinner will obviously be delighted to win, whilst Fritz will be happy that he’s reached a final and now has the belief that he can win a major title one day.
Nick Kyrgios reacts as Taylor Fritz loses US Open final
The 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory looks emphatic but certainly in the last set, Fritz stood up to the challenge and might look back on that set with regret.
Fritz will be moving up the world rankings after his exploits at the US Open. As for Sinner, he will now most likely end the year as the world number one and with two major titles to his name.
The 26-year-old cut an emotional figure during the presentation at the end of the match as he fought back the tears during his on-court interview.
Prior to those formalities getting underway, Fritz sat with his head held firmly in his hands as he struggled to comprehend his defeat in the US Open final.
Nick Kyrgios was doing analysis for a number of broadcasters during the tournament and he had a message for Fritz following the loss to Sinner.
He posted on X: “Head up champ. What a couple of weeks @Taylor_Fritz97 – should be extremely proud of you.”
Fritz has blown golden opportunity but he will be back
To reach a Grand Slam final without having to meet Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic is not to be sniffed at and Fritz will have recognised the opportunity.
Okay, so Djokovic is now 37 and he won’t be around forever performing wonders at major tournaments for the next year he will still remain a likely threat.
Fritz can take so much from this tournament. Ultimately, the only thing that stopped him from winning was a bang-in-form Sinner who had dumped the Olympics for this very moment.
At 26, the time will surely come for a player with the amount of talent that Fritz has. He’s one of the best servers in the game and ultimately, he has to pick the positives out of his US Open run.
Losing a Grand Slam final can never be an easy thing to take. Now, the challenge for Fritz is to put himself in this position again and claim the elusive title at some point in the future.
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