Tennis : Sinner sees off Fritz to win first US Open title
When Sinner won his maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne earlier this year he was forced to produce an extraordinary comeback from two sets down to beat Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final.
It was more straightforward in New York as he rarely looked troubled by Fritz, who struggled to build any momentum.
However, Sinner’s build-up to this year’s tournament at Flushing Meadows was far from normal.
Just six days before the main draw got under way, it was announced he had twice tested positive for low levels of a metabolite of clostebol
; a steroid that can be used to build muscle mass in March.
Sinner was ruled to bear no fault or negligence for the positive tests by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which found he had been inadvertently contaminated by his physiotherapist.
He subsequently parted ways with the physio and his fitness trainer but questions continued about whether Sinner’s case had been handled differently to those of other players because of his world number one status.
But he has seemingly been able to put the controversy behind him, manoeuvring his way through tough tests against Britain’s Jack Draper and 2021 champion Medvedev.
He and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, the French Open and Wimbledon champion, have split the Grand Slam spoils between them this year.
It marks a new era of tennis as 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic, who was knocked out in the third round, ends the year without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2017.
Cheered on by a home crowd packed with celebrities and sporting stars, Fritz got off to a shaky start when he dropped serve in the first game.
The 26-year-old recovered well to win three games in a row, but he continued to falter on serve and Sinner capitalised to take the opener and subdue the expectant mood on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Refusing to dwell on the first set, Fritz improved and made the second a closer affair, losing just two points in four service games.
However, Sinner then underlined his status as world number one, upping the ante when it mattered most to strike the crucial blow as Fritz served to stay in the set at 5-4 down.
Having failed to make the most of three break point opportunities early in the third set, Fritz brought the crowd to life with two brilliant winners to break for a 4-3 lead and keep alive his hopes.
But Sinner soon quashed those dreams, breaking back as Fritz attempted to serve for the set and doing the same two games later to wrap up the win after two hours and 16 minutes.
