Jannik Sinner's match was too much for Taylor Fritz. Sadly, so was the moment. The lack of an American Grand Slam winner on the men's side will enter its 22nd year when the calendar turns to 2025.
The double charge by Fritz and Francis Tiafoe in Friday's hard-fought five-set Red, White and Blue semifinal left the Open buzzing after the early eliminations of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.The possibilities fired the imagination so much that the narrative strayed far from reality.
World number one Sinner faced a brutal reality on Sunday when he became the first Italian to win an Open with a routine 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory, with neither the champion nor the runner-up playing anywhere near his best.
Sinner somehow won 86 percent of his first-serve points despite only hitting 51 percent of his first serves. Sinner won the first set with seven winners and eight unforced errors. Fritz was broken three times in the first set.
He was broken on serve trying to stay in the first set at 3-5, broken on serve trying to stay in the second set at 4-5, broken on serve trying to stay in the third set at 5-4, and then two games later broken on serve trying to stay in the match at 5-6.
This was a missed opportunity not for the Americans who have reached at least four semifinals in the past three Opens (Tiafoe in 2022 and 2024, Ben Shelton in 2023 and now Fritz), but for the 26-year-old who has played on the ATP Tour since 2015.
Fritz knew it. He knew he wasn't at his best to pull off the upset. The Californian had risen from 12th to 7th in the rankings in two weeks, his best ever major championship finish, but the runner-up wasn't exactly smelling the sweet smell of success.
“Obviously there's a lot of good things and once I have some time to calm down I'll be happy about being in the final and all that,” Fritz said, “but right now I'm pretty disappointed with a lot of things on the court, the way I played, the way I hit certain shots. It's awful.”
“Right now I'm really disappointed. What can I say, the fans, obviously the American fans, have been hoping for a men's champion for a long time and I feel like I'm very upset with how I played,” he said.
“I don't know what it is, but I feel like I've let a lot of people down.”
Of course, Fritz didn't disappoint anyone, except maybe himself. He'll probably feel better in a week or two or three. But the fact remains that second chances are never guaranteed. Professional sports are full of young teams that exceed expectations, make the playoffs, get to the championship or final round and lose, are expected to be perennial winners but never get there again. It happens all the time.
Fritz's progress has not been linear. He rose to world No. 5 in February 2023, but fell out of the top 10 by the end of the year, only to finally climb back up. There is no guarantee he can use this performance as a springboard or platform to compete for major championships every year. Reaching only the quarterfinals, as Fritz did in Australia and Wimbledon this year, is not good enough.
When the ATP releases its rankings on Monday, there will be five Americans in the top 17: Fritz at No. 7, 27-year-old Tommy Paul at No. 13, 24-year-old Sebastian Korda at No. 15, 26-year-old Tiafoe at No. 16 and 21-year-old Shelton at No. 17. There will be certain expectations placed on this group, especially given the declining influence of the Big Three.
Roger Federer isn't lurking, Rafael Nadal isn't lurking, and for most of the last two weeks, neither was Djokovic, but there are some tough players at the top — some tough young players. Indeed, Sinner, 23, opened and closed out his Grand Slam season by winning both the Australian Open and the U.S. Open, while Alcaraz, 21, won the French Open and Wimbledon.
Pete Sampras won his 14th and final major at the 2002 British Open, then Federer started winning in 2003, Nadal in 2005 and Djokovic in 2008. There's always the next, and sometimes the next duo or trio.
“I think if I play some solid tennis I can get a little further, maybe into the quarterfinals,” Fritz said. “I still think I need to play my best to beat the best players.”
Fritz fell far short of that goal on Sunday. Sinner and the moment were too big for him. We'll see if this is a lesson learned or a false start.
The 23 years are obviously not Fritz's fault alone, but maybe he feels that way now after this lost opportunity.
