Virtuous Sinner: The Italian World No.1 beats Fritz in US Open men’s final

NEW YORK: Jannik Sinner started slowly at the US Open, dropping the first set he played after being exonerated in a doping case no one knew about until shortly before play began at Flushing Meadows.

If that episode initially hung over him during the tournament, Sinner was able to put it aside while on court. Was he ever. The No. 1-ranked Sinner beat Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 with his typical relentless baseline game to win the men’s championship at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday, less than three weeks after word emerged of his two positive drug tests.

“This title, for me, means so much,” said Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy, “because the last period of my career was really not easy.”

He won the second Grand Slam trophy of his nascent career — the other was at the Australian Open in January — and prevented No. 12 Fritz from ending a major title drought for American men that has lasted 21 years.

Sinner improved to 55-5 with a tour-high six titles in 2024. That includes a 35-2 mark on hard courts, the surface used at both the Australian Open and US Open.

He’s the first man since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 to win his first two Grand Slam trophies in the same season.

The world found out on August 20 that Sinner had tested positive twice in an eight-day span for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid in March but was cleared because his use was ruled unintentional — the banned substance entered his system via a massage from a team member he later fired.

As expected, Fritz enjoyed something of a home-court advantage on a cool afternoon under a nearly cloudless sky. Fritz is not the sort to show much emotion beyond a shake of his neon-coloured racket, even after he went up 3-2 after 20 minutes.

Then again, that was pretty much the last significant highlight for Fritz until 3-all in the third set, when he smacked an overhead winner to get to 15-30, punched the air and screamed, “Let’s go!” People all around rose, applauding and shouting. After Fritz deposited a volley winner to earn a break point a minute later, he celebrated in the same fashion, and thousands in the seats went wild. Sinner then double-faulted, putting Fritz in front 4-3.

But when he tried to serve out the set at 5-4, Fritz buckled enough to let Sinner pull even by breaking. Sinner used a drop shot to lure Fritz to the front court, then slid a passing shot that Fritz volleyed into the net. Fritz bounced his racket off the court. Sinner loped to the towel box, not even smiling.

About 10 minutes later, the victory was Sinner’s thanks to a closing four-game run.