Taylor Fritz is preparing to play his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open against world number one Jannik Sinner.
If the booming reception Jessica Pegula received as she walked on to Arthur Ashe on Saturday, an electric New York crowd is set to raise the roof once more for Taylor Fritz.
The first American man into a major final since 2009, Fritz is hoping to put an end to a slightly longer 21-year wait since a US major title.
While American women have enjoyed success throughout and including Serena Williams’ reign at the top, Pegula could not quite keep the US Open title stateside after Aryna Sabalenka muscled her way to her maiden title at Flushing.
Fritz outlasted countryman Frances Tiafoe in a breathless five-setter in the semi-final, with the towering American having never reached beyond the quarter-finals at a major prior to the last fortnight.
Taylor Fritz is relishing the opportunity to play Jannik Sinner in the US Open final
The American’s run to the final has already seen him beat two opponents ranked higher than him, with Fritz’s impressive win over Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals the most notable.
The American number one however faces a wildly new challenge in the world number one, with Jannik Sinner having cruised through the rounds so far.
While both have never reached this stage at the US Open, the top seeded Italian has lived up to the title of the world’s best this week, while his close rivals Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic succumbed early.
Fritz however is remaining optimistic, rightly acknowledging he has little to lose: “I think I’ve always played well against Jannik,” he told Tennis.com. “It’s been a while since we played, but last time he got me in three at Indian Wells.”
“I don’t know, he hits the ball big, he’s like a very strong ball striker, but I feel like I always hit the ball really nice off of his ball.”
With a win a-piece in their two previous meetings, Fritz will be hoping to avenge the Italian for the quarter-final defeat he dealt him in March last year.
How can Taylor Fritz defeat Jannik Sinner in the US Open final
The American certainly faces a tough task, with Sinner’s semi-final slightly less gruelling ahead of their final today.
If Fritz is to challenge, he will need to produce the best serving day of his life and make the most of the opportunities when they do come, something John McEnroe also echoed when weighing up Fritz’s chances.
Having earned himself 13 break-point opportunities against Zverev, he only managed to take two of them, something that he mustn’t squander today.
While Fritz was probably second-best for much of his semi-final, he managed to grind out the win, which again will be a whole other challenge today.
Sinner unfortunately for Fritz has also made a habit of winning the ‘big points’ and has won 54 of his 59 matches on tour this season as well as the title in Cincinnati three weeks ago.
With the full backing of the American crowd willing him, Fritz is certainly in this one, but if Sinner can show up like he normally does, it might be 0-2 for American finalists this weekend.
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