Sinner powers past Fritz to become first Italian man to win US Open

Jannik Sinner became the first Italian to win the U.S. Open on Sunday, defeating American Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the final.

Sinner raised his arms in delight after breaking Fritz to win the title, and applause erupted around Arthur Ashe Stadium, despite the fact that home fans had hoped to see Fritz end the United States' 21-year men's Grand Slam drought.

Sinner was embroiled in controversy at the outset of the tournament as it was revealed that he tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March but was not banned. An independent tribunal upheld his argument that the positive tests were the consequence of inadvertent contamination.

The top seed blocked out the controversy in New York and won his second Grand Slam title, following his victory at the Australian Open earlier this year.

"We just went day-by-day, trying to practice well, even on the days off, believing in ourselves which is the most important. I understood, especially in this tournament, how important the mental part is in this sport," said Sinner.

"I would like to thank everyone for being so fair in this amazing arena. It was a huge pleasure."

Fritz got off to a bad start in the first game, handing Sinner the break with an unforced error, but he recovered, breaking back in the fourth and surviving a 23-shot rally - the longest of the match - to save break point in the fifth.

However, it was only a matter of time before the Italian found his rhythm and broke the 12th seeded American with a brilliantly put drop shot in the seventh game.

Fritz dropped his serve again on set point with a backhand past the baseline, one of 34 unforced errors that cost him dearly throughout the match.

The ecstatic home crowd, which included music megastar Taylor Swift, attempted to raise Fritz with cries of "USA!" in the second set as he fought to gain traction in his first major final.

However, Sinner shifted the momentum in his favour when he broke Fritz on set point from the baseline, hitting a beautiful backhand down the line that the American was unable to return.

He added to Fritz's misery when he rallied from a triple break point down in the first game of the third set, holding his serve with an overhead smash, a magnificent effort that even U.S. fans applauded.

Fritz clung on and even went up a break, but was left banging his racket on the court in frustration when he blasted a volley into the net, allowing Sinner to break back in the tenth.

Sinner broke for the sixth time in the match to seal the victory, with Fritz slapping a forehand into the net on match point.

"Here was difficult because also the pretournament circumstances weren't easy," said Sinner, who climbed the stands to celebrate with his team as fans shouted "Bravo!" around him.

"I felt like that I have grown, you know, match by match and that my confidence level went higher and higher."

With American great Andre Agassi on court for the award ceremony, Fritz told the audience, "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. But I’m gonna keep working and hopefully I’ll get it the next time."

It was again another disappointment for American fans, following Jessica Pegula's loss to Aryna Sabalenka in the women's final.

Sinner's victory followed a successful year in which he came back from two sets down to win at Melbourne Park, as well as at Miami and Cincinnati.

The world number one leaves New York with an incredible 55-5 win-loss record for the year, leaving competitors in his trail, including Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, who both crashed out early.

It wasn't all good news for Sinner, though, as it became evident that the doping scandal would persist long after he leaves, as he continued to answer questions about the situation while sitting at a post-match press conference with the trophy.

Some members of the media and his fellow players have alleged a double standard in how he was handled, and Sinner admitted that he struggled to enjoy the tournament at times.

"What I can say is that the general reaction of the players was quite positive, even when things came out. Then there have been, of course, some different voices, but this is in everything," he said.

"That's why you have, as I said before, the people close to you, these are the people who knows what was going on and what I and my team went through."

SportsLigue