Jannik Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the U.S. Open men’s final on Sunday, showcasing a relentless baseline game to claim the championship less than three weeks after being cleared in a doping case.
The 23-year-old Italian, ranked No. 1, secured his second Grand Slam title of his career, having previously won the Australian Open in January. Sinner’s victory denied Fritz, ranked No. 12, the chance to end a 21-year major title drought for American men since Andy Roddick’s victory at Flushing Meadows in 2003. Fritz, a 26-year-old from California, was the first American man to reach a Grand Slam final since Roddick’s runner-up finish at Wimbledon in 2009.
Sinner extended his winning streak to 11 matches and improved his season record to 55-5, boasting a tour-high six titles in 2024. His performance includes a 35-2 record on hard courts, the surface of both the Australian Open and U.S. Open. Sinner is the first man since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 to win his first two Grand Slam titles in the same year, a feat that even tennis greats like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer never achieved.
Just days before the U.S. Open began, it was revealed that Sinner had tested positive twice for anabolic steroids in March. However, he was exonerated after it was determined that the banned substance entered his system unintentionally through a massage from a team member, who has since been dismissed.
