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NEW YORK — Jannik Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the US Open final at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Sunday in two hours and 15 minutes.
The number 1 won against the number 12 in a comfortable victory, apart from a few exciting games in the third set. It was ultimately decided by Fritz’s difficulty in winning points behind his serve, Sinner’s tactical adjustment of his return position and Fritz’s still developing variation in his game not quite enough.
It is Sinner’s second Grand Slam title of his career and his second in 2024. He joins Aryna Sabalenka who holds both the Australian and US Open titles this year and consolidates his position as world number 1 in the men’s event.
The Athletics writers Charlie Eccleshare and Matt Futterman analyse the final and what it means for tennis.
Why did Taylor Fritz’s serve decline?
In the very first game of the match, Fritz saved a break point with a forehand winner after some excellent defense from Sinner. It was a short-term win for the American, but winning points with a serve that regularly exceeds 120 mph is no way to win a match. To have any chance, Fritz would have to serve well enough to nullify Sinner’s defensive prowess.
Fritz couldn’t do that in the first set, where he was broken in three of his five service games, including the first. In that game, he hit a 127mph serve on break point, which Sinner sliced in the air. Fritz missed the put-away shot and went straight behind.
His low first-serve percentage (38 percent) was a factor in losing the first set 6-3, but even more important was the percentage of points won on those serves. Fritz won only 55 percent, far below the 81 percent he averaged for the rest of the tournament.
Fritz missed the lines with his first serve, and when he got it in, Sinner was able to hit the ball deep and wrong-foot the American. Fritz struggled to get his forehand into play early in the points, and the problems he had with his serve meant that, despite a reasonably good return day, he found himself behind the eight-ball too often.
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Charlie Eccleshare
How could Sinner Fritz be unsettled?
Just when it seemed that Fritz was back on his feet, had solved his service problems in the first set and was on an even keel with Sinner until the second set, things went wrong.
The first player to break the other’s serve had the best chance of winning the match. Fritz had gone from only 38 percent of his first serves in the first set to nearly 90 percent in the second set, after his first four service games.
Jannik Sinner dragged Fritz into a long rally that he could not sustain. (Kena Betancur / AFP via Getty Images)
Then came the fifth and most crucial service game at 4-5, in which Fritz made only three of the first five serves and the points took longer to settle. It is a situation in which Fritz’s less reliable ground game can fail.
Three unforced errors gave Sinner two set points. He needed only one, he moved up court and sent a forehand deep that Fritz could not retrieve.
All points and games should be equal in tennis. They are not. Lose your serve in the first game of a set and you still have a few chances to draw. Lose it when you are a set behind and 4-5 down and you have lost at least 40 percent of a match.
Beating Sinner from a lead or while still tied is hard enough. Climbing out of a two-set hole to do it is nearly impossible.
Matt Futterman
How could the public feed on leftovers and then come to life?
Besides the service, the audience was the most important weapon Fritz had at his disposal on Saturday.
There are basically two ways to get the fans dancing. The first is to have a Frances Tiafoe-esque ability to work a crowd; the other is to keep the scoreboard close enough that they get really involved.
Fritz will never be someone who builds a bond with fans like Tiafoe, it’s just not in his nature. So he had to create some tension by putting pressure on Sinner, just like the equally reserved Jessica Pegula did with Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s women’s final.
When Taylor Fritz came to life, so did the audience. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)
Fritz really struggled with this, which is also a big credit to his opponent. Sinner has such a good poker face that he hardly gives the audience anything to work with.
Finally, Fritz and the crowd began to work harmoniously together in the third set. First, after Fritz had held 3-3 and saved break points, they really exploded for the first time. Emboldened by this, Fritz gave them some big celebrations in the next game, which drove the crowd wild. They started to get on Sinner’s nerves, cheering when he missed a serve and forcing a double fault to give Fritz the break and what looked like the set.
Then Sinner came back and although the crowd remained captivated, they could not help their man over the finish line.
Charlie Eccleshare
As Sinner realizes how much he has lost, who can defeat him?
There just aren’t many ways to beat Jannik Sinner these days, other than hoping he has a little bit less, especially on his serve. Sinner is now 55-5 in 2024, with a 35-2 record on hard courts, losing to Andrey Rublev in Montreal and Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells.
Alcaraz seemed to be on to something at Indian Wells in March. Trailing 1-6, he made a mid-match adjustment and began varying the height of his groundstrokes, bouncing the ball up and down to break Sinner’s rhythm. The Italian prefers to plant his feet just behind a baseline and hit forehands and backhands on a wire all afternoon.
Since then, a slew of players have tried the tactic, and Sinner can now spot it from a mile (or 80 feet) away—especially against someone like Fritz, who can’t get the court and revolutions to make it uncomfortable. Sinner straightens up and bounces back as soon as he sees some height, turning a high ball into a belt-high forehand.
He has also begun to make his own tactical adjustments mid-match, the best example of which on Sunday afternoon was his push back to the back wall, changing his return position deep into the second set after Fritz had pinned him down for most of the set.
Jannik Sinner spent most of his time returning to the green behind the track. (Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
Suddenly, Sinner became Daniil Medvedev. He knew he could hit long, looping returns against Fritz—a player who rarely serves or volleys, and still incorporates variety and advanced net play into his game. By extending the length of rallies, he played Fritz’s service games on terms that were favorable to him.
It was a good place to start changing things – or in the case of Sinner on Sunday, finishing them – without too much risk.
At 4-5 30-30, Fritz served to win the third set and turn Arthur Ashe Stadium into a cauldron. He launched into one of his best serves of the day, a 133mph serve over the T. Sinner’s return position gave him time to send a return to a pixel square in Fritz’s backhand corner. Somehow the Italian had gained the upper hand on a point he shouldn’t have won. He did it on that one, and the next, and the next. Suddenly it was all tied at 5-5 and the crowd’s hopes were gone. Another break two games later and it was all over.
Matt Futterman
What did Jannik Sinner say after the final?
On the track:
“The last period of my career was really not easy,” said Sinner, before dedicating the title to his aunt who is ill.
“I don’t know to what extent I still have her in my life… She was a very important person in my life.”
What did Taylor Fritz say after the final?
On the track:
“I know we’ve been waiting for a champion for a long time. I’m sorry I didn’t make it this time, but… I’ll keep working on it and hopefully I’ll make it next time.”
In his press conference:
His serve was not working for much of the match
“My plan A isn’t working. The plan B that I normally fall back on would be to be a little safer and wait it out.
That works, along with my serve, against a lot of other players, but against him he’ll just intimidate me a little bit too much.”
On the feeling that Grand Slams are more open now
“I don’t think you have to play unbelievably to get far in tournaments and be able to compete.”
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(Top photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
