Jannik Sinner has won his second Grand Slam title of 2024, defeating Taylor Fritz in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to take the US Open men’s championship on Sunday. He’s the first Italian player to win the tournament.
Though play was relatively even at points, with both players engaged in rallies lasting multiple shots, No. 1 seed Sinner was more assertive with his forehand in key moments. The Italian’s long reach enabled him to cover the baseline from side to side, while also keeping No. 12 Fritz off-balance with his returns.
Sinner also changed up his shotmaking to catch Fritz off guard, mixing in drop shots to catch Fritz playing way back. That finesse was impossible for Fritz to cover while also defending the baseline. Fritz either wasn’t willing or able to charge the net aggressively as he did in his semifinal match versus Frances Tiafoe.
Fritz did play his way back in the second set as it looked like Sinner might pull away. The supportive crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium may have been a factor in providing a boost. However, Sinner again mixed Fritz up by mixing in finesse shots with his forehand, keeping him off balance and making him play catch-up.
Falling behind by two sets, Fritz faced a difficult uphill climb and couldn’t regain momentum in the third set. He changed his approach, playing the net more aggressively, while taking Sinner deep into the corners with his forehand.
In the third set, Fritz changed his approach, responding to Sinner choosing to play far back from the baseline. He played the net more aggressively and mixed in some drop shots that Sinner couldn’t get to. However, Sinner could afford to stick with what he’d been doing with a two-set lead and eventually won points by hitting returns straight on rather than cross-court.
Eventually, Fritz appeared to wear down after having to catch up from so far back. He seemed to grunt louder with each return, apparently indicating the urgency he faced. Meanwhile, Sinner stayed calm – almost robotically so – and maintained his game plan to handle whatever Fritz could throw at him.
Here is how the action from the US Open men’s final played out on Yahoo Sports’ live blog:
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Taylor Fritz came back admirably in this third set, but faced too steep an uphill climb in falling behind by two sets against Jannik Sinner.
On the final point, Fritz hits the ball into the net and Sinner breaks serve for the win.
Sinner wins his first US Open and second Grand Slam title of 2024.
Chasing Sinner might have caught up with Fritz. Sinner sends Fritz deep into the corner to get a forehand, leaving him far out of position to recover and slices a shot down the line to break Fritz’s serve and take a 6-5 lead.
Fritz has fought back admirably, but faced a formidable obstacle in falling behind by two sets then letting Sinner get back into this third one.
Sinner adjusts by hitting more shots straight on rather than cross-court, forcing Fritz to cover more ground and making it difficult for him to get to the net. When he has, Fritz is out of position against Sinner’s forehand.
He goes on serve with a 5-5 score. Did Fritz lose his best chance to win a set?
The crowd sees that Fritz has a chance to win this set and extend the match. Yet again, Fritz takes advantage of Sinner playing so far back by dropping a shot at the net.
Sinner is up by two sets, so maybe he doesn’t have to change his approach. But it’s worth asking if playing so far back is allowing Fritz to play more of the court and make more shots.
Fritz holds serve with an ace that Sinner can’t get to as he plays far, far back from the baseline. He’s continuing to get Sinner extending himself far to the corners for returns that he can’t get much power on. With Sinner out of position, Fritz has been able to fire balls into the court for points.
Sinner goes to serve.
As Fritz has come back to life, so has the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium become loud again. They wanted a reason to cheer and Fritz is giving it to them. After playing defense for so much of the match, he’s now setting the pace and forcing Sinner to keep up.
This time, Fritz is the one who crosses Sinner up with a drop shot at the net. He follows up with a shot toward the left corner. Sinner catches up to it and flails at it with his back to the net. The ball goes up high and Fritz waits to fire it to the opposite side.
Fritz breaks serve and takes a 4-3 lead, sending Sinner to chase returns from corner to corner. That opened up opportunities to hit softer shots at the net which Sinner can’t catch up to. Fritz appears to be back in this.
After a long volley exchange, Fritz fires a forehand to the right corner that Sinner can’t reach and holds serve to even the set at 3-3. The scoreboard says Fritz is in this, but is having to play catch-up too much for him
Sinner now on serve. Fritz needs a break.
Fritz might be indicating his exasperation and difficulty in keeping up with Sinner, audibly grunting on his return shots.
Sinner, meanwhile, appears almost robotically calm as he handles whatever Fritz can throw at him. He holds serve to take a 3-2 lead.
Fritz is now hitting deep into the corners to make Sinner chase the ball from sideline to sideline. He holds serve, as Sinner hits the ball into the net trying to take a difficult angle on his return. That approach is working, but the question is whether or not Fritz can sustain it.
Sinner’s serve and strokes appear more precise, going toward the corners. Fritz has chased the returns down, but extending forces him to take poor angles on his returns, hitting the ball just past the line or too long.
However, Fritz has improved on playing the net, which he’ll likely have to keep up to get back into this match.
Sinner breaks Fritz’s serve, forcing him to reach far to his right and return a shot that goes into the bottom of the net.
With that, Sinner takes the second set, 6-4. If Fritz doesn’t have an answer, he’s looking at a straight set loss.
Yet again, Sinner gets Fritz with a finesse shot. Whether he’s hesitant to charge the net or just isn’t covering the court as well as he did in the semifinal versus Frances Tiafoe, Fritz has let Sinner’s drop shots go by without an attempt to return. He can’t get to those shots.
Fritz shows his frustration after returning another ball into the net. He’s had chances to break Sinner’s serve, but can’t finish it off.
Just like that, Sinner holds serve and goes back on top, 4-3.
Once again, Sinner surprises Fritz with a drop shot mixed in among his forehand returns. It might be impossible for Fritz to look for that shot. When he’s played the net, Sinner has been able to fire a forehand past him.
Fritz holds serve and we’re even at 3-3. He’s keeping Sinner back on his serve, giving him an opportunity to catch up to returns. Sinner now has to react, more than set the pace.
Fritz has played his way back and the crowd is picking up with him. However, Sinner’s forehand appears to be gaining strength and tying up Fritz, who’s having difficulty returning. He holds serve for a 2-1 lead.
Fritz regaining a foothold after Sinner was pulling away. He looked frustrated at the end of the first set and the crowd hasn’t had much reason to cheer him on. But he’s showing life again, holding serve to even it up at 1-1.
Momentum has definitely shifted with Sinner now sending Fritz chasing shot after shot along the baseline. That opens Sinner up for a hard forehand, which Fritz returns long.
Sinner takes the first set, 6-3, winning 15 of the last 19 points
After breaking serve, Sinner appears to have taken back control of this set. He holds serve and goes on top 5-3. Fritz is playing catch-up now.
