A roaring American home crowd didn’t prove enough to haul Taylor Fritz past the supreme Jannik Sinner in the US Open final.
An astonishing and important week for American tennis ends with no homegrown champion, despite two shots at the US Open title.
Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz, the former now joining the latter as the new American number ones didn’t have enough to defeat the two current Australian Open champions.
Continuing their hard court dominance, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka battled past an ever-boisterous and exuberant US Open crowd, longing to crown a champion on home soil.
The fortnight ends for Fritz in immediate disappointment, despite the American having never reached a major semi-final before the start of the Open.
Playing against the world number one, Fritz was simply second-best on the big points and subsequently fell short in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
Heartbroken Taylor Fritz says ‘sorry’ to US Open crowd after defeat to Jannik Sinner
Clearly a quieter, more reserved character on the ATP tour, Fritz battled past Frances Tiafoe in an all-American semi-final, with the crowd mostly backing his charismatic opponent.
As the last man standing, Fritz bounced off an electric crowd at Flushing, with a storming comeback in the third set to keep his hopes alive.
Downtrodden and defeated, the 26-year-old spoke frankly in his post-match interview simply and rightly acknowledging the brilliance of his opponent.
Humble in defeat, Fritz explained what it means to be an American playing at a home Grand Slam event: “Being an American at the US Open is just incredible, I’ve been feeling the love all week so thank you so much.
“I know we’ve been waiting for a champion for a long time so I’m sorry I couldn’t get it done this time. I’m going to keep working and hopefully I’ll get it done next time.”
The 21-year wait for an American male champion continues unfortunately, with Andy Roddick’s 2003 US Open glory still yet to be matched.
Taylor Fritz’s US Open run only spells success for American tennis
Tommy Paul has predicted a new era for American tennis after four US semi-finalists split into the men’s and women’s draw, the future certainly looks bright.
Sure, the dominant days of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras are well behind us, however this US Open campaign may have at least parked any further American criticism for the time being.
With Fritz’s run to the final launching him back into the ATP top 10, two off his career-high ranking of fifth, five American men still remain in the top 20.
American players being in the US Open final feels important for the sport – it creates a magical atmosphere with a near 24,000 strong Arthur Ashe crowd.
Both Pegula and Fritz had always stumbled at the quarter-final stage, ten times combined in fact, however with both having got over this haunting and previously inevitable wobble, perhaps the immediate disappointment will flip the page for American tennis.
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