QUEENS, NY – Six finals, six titles. A dream year for Jannik Sinner, 23, who claimed his first US Open title at the expense of American Taylor Fritz, 26, in a two-hour, 15-minute match that ended 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 on an Arthur Ashe Stadium packed with celebrities like Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny.
Sinner thus won her second Grand Slam tournament, after the Australian Open earlier this year, and joined Flavia Pennetta (in 2015) as the only Italian champions in the history of the New York tournament.
He is also the fourth different man – and the youngest – to win both Grand Slam hard-court titles in a single season. Winning in New York earns him a check for $3.6 million, the highest prize in tennis.
“It hasn’t been an easy year, I have to thank my team a lot,” Sinner said, referring to the drug tests he tested positive for in the spring, from which he emerged unscathed, and which were made public just before the start of the US Open.
“I want to dedicate this title to my aunt, who is not feeling well. I don’t know how much longer I will have her in my life,” added the Italian.
Fritz, meanwhile, fell just short of becoming the first American man to win a Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.
“I know we have been looking for a champion for many years. I am sorry we did not get it,” Fritz told the crowd during the trophy presentation. “I will keep working. I will try again next time.”
Taylor Swift in a crowded grandstand
Celebrities were also present, led by Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce, who were seen in one of the boxes alongside Patrick Mahomes, Kelce’s teammate on the Kansas City Chiefs. When the screens showed Bad Bunny, also present, playing “Tití Me Preguntó” over the PA system, Swift danced and sang to the Puerto Rican’s rhythm.
Actors such as Courtney Cox, Eddie Redmayne, Matthew McConaughey, Lindsay Lohan, Jon Hamm and Andrew Garfield also attended Arthur Ashe, the world’s largest tennis stadium. Also in attendance were celebrities such as the ever-present Anna Wintour, singers Jon Bon Jovi and Raw Alejandro, sprinter Noah Lyles, basketball player Paul George and presenter Stephen Colbert.
Swift, who sang “God Bless America” at the 2002 US Open at just 12 years old, returned to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to cheer on her compatriot Fritz.
A one-way party
The match started with a nervous Fritz who gave up his serve in the first game. Although he later managed to recover the break, thanks to his consistency in long rallies from the baseline, in the seventh game he gave up his serve again after committing his first double fault. And if you allow a player like Sinner to breaksit is impossible to win the set.
In the second set, the first chants of “USA, USA!” were heard in support of Fritz. It was a set that followed the expected logic between two tennis players who had won 92% (Fritz) and 88% (Sinner) of their service games in the previous rounds. Both held their serve with ease, not allowing even a break point until the tenth game. That was when the number 1’s quality appeared again to avoid errors and take the set in the only gap left by Fritz. The American made 78% of his first serves compared to Sinner’s 56%. Not even then.
Sinner’s superiority was evident in the first game of the third. The Italian gave away the first three points on his serve with three errors, but at 0-40 not even the crowd was excited about a possible break. The number 1 linked five points in a row and held his serve. However, he would lose it in the seventh game, the only time Fritz took the lead in a set.
It was a mirage. When he had been able to close the set with his serve and 5-4, Fritz was unable to defend the Italian’s attacks. He could not even force a tie-break. Sinner linked the last three games to take the championship.
Eleven champions in 17 years
The US Open is the most open of the majors, perhaps because it is the last on the calendar, when players arrive with a lot of season under their belts. Sinner is the 11th different champion in the men’s singles category since 2008. In the same period, the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon have each been won by five different men.
“Carlos [Alcaraz] and Novak [Djokovic] “They fell early and the draw opened up a lot,” Fritz said in a press conference after the final. “I haven’t felt like I’ve played incredibly well over the past two weeks.”
Sinner is the first world No. 1 to lift the men’s title in Queens since Rafael Nadal did so in 2017, when he won his third US Open while leading the rankings. Nadal would go on to win one more in 2019.
The Italian will end the year at the top of the rankings after leading the ATP Tour in titles (6) and victories on hard courts (35) this season.
Record attendance: over a million fans
The US Open surpassed 1 million attendees for the first time this year, with 1,048,669 fans flocking to the Queens resort over the full three weeks of the tournament, representing an eight percent increase compared to 2023. Attendance for the two main-draw weeks hit a new record of 832,640 people.
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