Sinner beats Fritz to win US Open and claim 2nd Grand Slam of 2024

Jannik Sinner owned the hard courts in 2024.

The World No. 1 defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday to win the US Open and bookend a brilliant year with his second Grand Slam title. The Italian opened the season by claiming the Australian Open crown - another hard-court event - and closed it out by using his relentless ball-striking to keep Fritz from ending a 21-year major title drought for American men.

In doing so, Sinner accomplished something that hasn't been done in nearly 50 years, becoming the third man in the Open Era to win the first two Grand Slam titles of his career in the same year. The last player to match that achievement was Guillermo Vilas in 1977.

Fritz, meanwhile, was looking to become the first American man to lift a Grand Slam trophy since Andy Roddick accomplished the feat at Flushing Meadows in 2003. An American man hadn't even reached the final of a major since 2009, when Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon.

The crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium was acutely aware, too.

But Fritz, the No. 12 seed who beat compatriot Frances Tiafoe to reach the title match, was unable to channel the energy of the eager fans who were desperate to cheer him on and break out into "U-S-A" chants. On the couple of occasions where the hard-serving Californian did seem to be generating some momentum - like when he broke Sinner to take a lead in the third set - the Italian quickly shut it down with his clinical execution from the baseline.

Sinner, exonerated in a doping case that emerged in March but was revealed just days before the US Open began, recovered quickly after going behind in the third set, staying consistent and pouncing whenever Fritz left even the smallest opening in a rally.

The American had an opportunity to close out the set serving at 5-4, but Sinner, who moved Fritz all around the court throughout the match, broke to stay alive in the set. Not long after, he broke again to win the title.

"This title, for me, means so much," Sinner said after the match, according to Howard Fendrich of The Associated Press. "The last period of my career was really not easy."

He added: "We just went day by day ... believing in ourself, which is the most important. I understand, especially in this tournament, how important the mental part is."

Sinner extended his winning streak to 11 matches and boosted his record to 55-5 on the year with Sunday's triumph.

That includes a 35-2 mark on hard courts, highlighting his dominance on the surface that has delivered the two major titles of his ascendant career thus far.

"It's really impressive," Fritz said of his 23-year-old opponent. "He was too good."