Taylor Fritz was left really unhappy with one area of his game yesterday, as he fell to defeat in the US Open final.
As most who previewed the match claimed, it was always going to take something truly special to topple an in-form and at times unstoppable Jannik Sinner in New York.
Arguably the best male hard-court player on the planet at the moment, everything favoured him except the home-court advantage, which even that was weakened by his suffocating style of tennis.
Taylor Fritz had a handful of chances to take the game to the 23-year-old, and unfortunately failed to do so in the crunch moments.
It’s particularly frustrating that a usually reliable element of his game went missing, to add further insult to injury.
Taylor Fritz left unhappy with one area of his game vs Jannik Sinner
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Fritz did well to analyse his game after what has to be one of the most crushing losses of his career.
After all, it was always bound to end in one of two ways: an extreme high after winning his maiden Grand Slam title in New York, or a devastating low, having lost the biggest match of his life.
Unfortunately, Sinner was just too good on the day, and the latter option was exercised.
Looking back on the match, Fritz detailed one particular area of his game that he felt let him down. He told reporters: ‘I feel like I improved the serve a lot in the second set, in the first my serve was really struggling and then third set I started to put it together a bit more with just hitting the ball, hitting my forehand a little bit better.
‘I put myself in a good position to win the third but… I mean he played a good game when I went to serve it out.
‘That’s kind of just how it goes when you’re playing the best player in the world right now.’
Taylor Fritz’s serving let him down in the US Open final
Fritz may protest that his level increased, but his averages across the whole match paint a disappointing picture of his serving, especially when it is usually so faultless.
Often, the American can get through most matches safe in the knowledge that, unless something miraculous happens, he will seldom get broken.
So, eventually he will break his opponent down, thus offering him the chance to strike.
Against Sinner, that approach was naive, and it was always going to take flawlessness across the entire board to come out on top to win the US Open.
Serving at a 59% first-serve percentage is far from faultless, and neither was winning 20% less than Sinner did on his first serve anyway.
A trait that has pulled him through so many matches let him down at the crucial moment yesterday.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
