A disappointed Taylor Fritz admits he would have liked to play better in the final of the US Open but believes there are also positives for him.
The American missed out on winning his first Grand Slam title after losing in straight sets to Jannik Sinner. Fritz was bidding to become the first male home player to win the major in New York in over 20 years but came up short in the final. He only managed to win 43% (16/37) of his second service points and hit 34 unforced errors.
On paper, the 26-year-old was always the underdog in his clash against Sinner, who has now won 45 out of 46 matches against players ranked outside the top 10 this season. However, Fritz’s defeat is still a bitter pill to swallow.
“There’s obviously a lot of positives, and when I get some time to cool down then I’ll be happy about the fact that I made it to the finals and stuff like that,” he said.
“But right now I’m pretty just disappointed with just a lot of things on the court, how I played, how I hit certain shots. It sucks.
“I’m not saying that it necessarily would have made a difference. I don’t know if it would have but I just would have liked to have played better and given myself a better chance.
“It’s really disappointing right now. I’m pretty upset with how I played. I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”
Fritz’s run to this year’s final has seen him score back-to-back wins over former Grand Slam finalists Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev. Then in the semi-finals, he outlasted Frances Tiafoe in a nightime showdown which was the first all-American clash at this stage of the men’s draw for 15 years.
As for the reason why he didn’t perform as expected, the world No.12 played down the idea of nerves affecting him. He also dismissed the suggestion that his five-set clash with Tiafoe had a significant impact on him.
“I’m walking out to play my match on Ashe in the US Open finals is what I dreamed about my whole life. It almost got me emotional, but I was just really happy and ready to enjoy the moment.” He said.
“I didn’t feel overly nervous, I felt pretty good, I just really expected to come out and play better from the start.”
Whilst he may not be satisfied with his level, Fritz has a newfound confidence that he can go deep at major events. Until this tournament, he had never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. So far in his career, he has won eight ATP titles which include the 2022 Indian Wells Masters.
“I’ve said throughout my entire career, whether it’s when I won my first ATP point or I won my first challenger or I made my first round of 16 or whatever it is, I’ve always said once I do something once, I just feel a lot more confident in being able to do it again,” Fritz stated.
“That’s something that’s always stuck with me. Sometimes it’s taken me some time to get to a certain achievement, but I’ve always felt like once I’ve done something, I gain a lot of confidence that I can do it again.
“So it is a great feeling to have gotten to this point, knowing that, you know, I’m playing well, but I’m playing very within myself, and I feel like it’s repeatable.”
