It was somehow fitting that the last Grand Slam Championship of 2024 went to the estimable Jannik Sinner. This supreme Italian competitor also secured the first major of the season in Melbourne. By capturing the U.S. Open title in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Sinner reaffirmed his status as the best player in the world, capped a spectacular 2024 campaign, and changed the narrative about him completely from the dark days leading up to the proceedings in New York.
Two days after taking the Masters 1000 crown at Cincinnati and only six days before he started his quest for indisputable hard court supremacy at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Sinner was hit with considerable force by the announcement from the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) that an independent tribunal ruled Sinner “bears No Fault or Negligence for two Anti-Doping Violations under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP) having twice tested positive for the prohibited substance clostebol in March 2024.”
Sinner had been living with the hard reality of that news for months before it became public. Now he was being cleared, although his ranking points and prize money from Indian Wells had been taken away from him. But the shocking announcement still left Sinner standing uncomfortably under a cloud of controversy, which in my view was fundamentally unfair to him. Many in the tennis community spoke of a double standard. Sinner could afford high priced lawyers to help him sort through the complexities of the case, while lesser players could not afford such a luxury. That was the prevailing view. Others wondered why the likes of Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep had been treated differently and more harshly by the authorities in their cases.
The view here is that each and every case is different. Sinner was sorely let down by his team. His physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi and fitness coach Umberto Ferrara were the culprits. Sinner understandably let them go. Ferrara had purchased an over the counter spray known for helping to deal with cuts. During the Indian Wells Masters 1000 tournament Naldi had cut his finger. He subsequently was treating his cut with the spray for nine days while simultaneously giving Sinner massages and also bandaging the player’s feet. Sinner explained that he was contaminated through that process. The ITIA believed his explanation and that is why they cleared him.
Be that as it may, the tennis community was largely not kind to Sinner or the process. Sinner was scarred by the fact that the anti-doping violations in March had not been made public sooner. That was not his fault. Had the authorities informed the public shortly after the positive tests, the way he was perceived by fellow players and the public might have been very different. In any event, he gave a dignified press conference prior to Flushing Meadows and said, “In my mind I know that I haven’t done anything wrong. I always respect these rules, and I always will respect the rules of anti-doping.”
A good many experts wondered about Sinner finding the inner calmness and fortitude to succeed in New York under these circumstances. Would his mind be muddled? Could he summon his best tennis at the biggest moments? How was it all going to work out?
Sinner answered all of these questions unequivocally, and in the process showed the world that he is made of the toughest stock. Although he commenced the tournament apprehensively and fell behind by a set and a break to the American Mackenzie McDonald, Sinner roared back to take that match 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. After that, he never looked back, dropping only one more set in his last six matches, ultimately securing his sixth title of 2024 as well as his second major.
In the final, Sinner handled a potentially tricky assignment with almost regal assurance, ousting the No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz of the United States 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Fritz was carrying the hopes of a nation on his back. He was the first American male competitor to reach the title round at the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick in 2006. He was trying to establish himself as the first U.S. player to win at the Open since Roddick had done it in 2003 as a 21-year-old. He wanted to win the championships of his country very badly.
But Sinner played his finest match of the tournament to topple Fritz and leave the American fans disappointed. From the outset, the Italian was striking the ball with a crispness and clarity that was better than anything he had produced across the fortnight. His serve was finding the corners. His court coverage was remarkably good as he chased balls in and out of the corners with astonishing alacrity.
Sinner broke Fritz immediately for a 1-0 first set lead when the 26-year-old sent a bounce smash wide at break point down. A quick love hold from Sinner took him to 2-0, but after Fritz held at love in the third game the Italian double faulted at game point for 3-1 and was broken when his swing volley found the net. When Fritz saved a break point in the fifth game to sweep his third game in a row for a 3-2 lead, the capacity audience in Ashe Stadium came alive.
But Sinner proceeded to win four games in a row to seal the set. He started with a hold from 15-30 in the sixth game for 3-3, then broke at 15 for 4-3 with an effective drop shot, held at the cost of only one point for 5-3 and then broke again at 30 to finish off the 6-3 set by taking 15 of the last 19 points. Sinner’s mastery from the baseline in measuring his shots and playing with precision was unassailable. But Fritz served poorly and was broken three times by one of the sport’s premier returners.
The second set contrasted significantly with the first. On his way to a 5-4 lead, Sinner won 20 of 25 points on serve and did not concede a point on his first serve. Fritz found his rhythm as well, taking 16 of 18 service points on his way to 4-4. But, serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Fritz was tight. He made an unforced error off the forehand, and netted a routine backhand for 0-30. A forehand winner brought Fritz back to 15-30 but then he netted another two-hander to trail 15-40. Now Sinner took matters into his own hands after Fritz had handed him three points. At 15-40, Sinner drove a backhand down the line impeccably to draw an error and win the set 6-4, and just like that he had the break for a two set lead.
In the middle of the third set, Sinner seemed certain to put the finishing touches on a sparkling performance. He had held from 0-40 in the opening game and then led 3-2 and Fritz with Fritz serving at 15-40. But Sinner denied himself an opportunity at this juncture, pulling a forehand crosscourt second serve return wide on the first break point and missing another forehand wide on the 22nd stroke of the next rally for another unjustifiable mistake. Fritz followed with a 134 MPH first serve down the T setting up an easy forehand winner. At game point, he unleashed a scorching forehand winner to make it to 3-3.
Fritz played superbly to break for 4-3. At 15-15 he artistically went to the drop shot to draw Sinner in before lofting a topspin lob over the Italian. Then Fritz followed that shot in and put away an overhead. On the following point he came forward again, punched a backhand volley crosscourt with depth, and then made a forehand volley winner. It was 15-40. Sinner was somewhat shaken, double faulting that game away. Fritz held in a deuce game for 5-3 with an ace down the T.
A fourth set seemed entirely possible, but Sinner was not letting go. He held at 15 in the ninth game. Now Fritz served for the set at 5-4 and was two points away at 30-30. But Sinner made a fine return off a 133 MPH first serve and eventually took the point with a deep forehand inside in that drew an error. On break point at 30-40, Sinner’s forehand crosscourt drop shot was chased by Fritz. He got it back but Sinner went down the line with the passing shot and Fritz bungled the forehand volley. It was 5-5.
Sinner double faulted for 30-30 in the eleventh game but he held on from there. Serving to stay in the match, Fritz opened with a double fault and then Sinner’s sizzling forehand down the line forced an error from Fritz. The American won the next point but completely miss-hit a forehand swing volley long to make it 15-40. After 18 strokes, Fritz netted a crosscourt forehand, and Sinner was now officially the first Italian man ever to win the U.S. Open.
Sinner ousted the British left-hander Jack Draper in the semifinals. Draper was only the fourth British man in the Open Era to reach the semifinals or better at the U.S. Open. Greg Rusedski reached the final in 1997 and lost to Pat Rafter. Tim Henman lost to Roger Federer in the 2004 semifinals and Andy Murray took the title in 2012 with a hard fought, five set victory over Novak Djokovic.
Despite getting sick on the court more than once, Draper made Sinner work inordinately hard before the No. 1 seed came through 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Sinner, who hurt his wrist in the second set, had the break for 4-3 in the first set but Draper was making life difficult for the Italian from the backcourt with his heavy topspin off the forehand and a reliable but flatter backhand. Sinner had very little rhythm. He lost his serve for 4-4. At 4-5, Sinner was two points away from losing the set, but he out-rallied Draper in a long backcourt exchange and then held on.
The British player battled through four deuces in the next game but double faulted on break point into the net. Sinner held at love to win the set but squandered a multitude of chances in the second set. He had two break points in the opening game, one more in the third game, and yet another in the fifth game. The favorite did not convert on any of those four opportunities. But he was stellar in the tie-break, starting the sequence with a pair of forehand winners and eventually taking it seven points to three. Sinner’s win was his 14th in his last 15 tiebreaks.
After laboring through those first two sets, Sinner completed the win comfortably in the third. Draper departed from this Open. But this much is certain concerning the long run: he is here to stay. It won’t take him long to battle his way into the top ten.
In the other semifinal at the Open, Fritz was victorious in a crackling confrontation with his old friend and rival Frances Tiafoe. The No. 20 seed Tiafoe had halted fellow American Ben Shelton (seeded 13th) in a riveting third round match. A year ago on the same court, Shelton had upended Tiafoe in a four set quarterfinal. This time around, the congenial Black competitor stopped Shelton in five sets with one of the most mature performances he has ever given, rallying from two sets to one down for the win.
Facing Fritz, the 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist Tiafoe was inspired in his second penultimate round appearance. He came back from 0-3 to win six of the next seven games to salvage the opening set. Fritz exploited his big serve and weight of shot beautifully in the second set, achieving a break at love in the twelfth game to put himself in level territory at one set all.
Surprisingly, however, Fritz played a loose game in the opening game of the third set including a double fault that caused him to trail 0-30, and that cost him dearly. The two combatants stayed on serve for the rest of the set, and the charismatic Tiafoe held from 0-30 when he served at 5-4 as Fritz committed four consecutive unforced errors. Tiafoe was one set away from the final, just as he had been against Carlos Alcaraz two years ago.
Neither player was anywhere near a break point in the fourth set until Tiafoe served at 4-5. In that crucial tenth game, Tiafoe served an ace for a 40-15 lead but then double faulted twice to knot the score at deuce. The 26-year-old then miss-hit a forehand far out of court, and sent a forehand drop shot into the net. On a run of four pendulum swinging points in a row, Fritz had broken to seal the fourth set.
Tiafoe was spent, suffering from anxiety, and physically reduced to a much lesser version of himself. Fritz surged to 4-0 in the fifth set by collecting 16 of 22 points. Although he lost his serve in the fifth game, he did nor concede another point in the last two games of a 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6–4, 6-4 triumph. It was the seventh time in eight career appointments that Fritz had toppled Tiafoe, but a singularly important victory for the former and a devastatingly potent defeat for the latter.
Of all the quarterfinals, the most bizarre was Sinner’s 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 champion and 2023 finalist. Only in the fourth set did both men play well simultaneously. The first three sets were shockingly one-sided. It was all atypical of the entire Sinner-Medvedev head to head series, which now stands at 7-6 for Medvedev. The fourth set was the lone one that came down to one break. Medvedev had two break points which would have given him a 4-2 lead and might have carried him into a fifth set but he fell short and it was Sinner who converted at 3-3. Having lost their last showdown in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in July, Sinner’s success this time may have lasting implications. He has now won six of his last seven confrontations with Medvedev, who has not won a tournament since Rome in 2023. My view is that this latest loss will have lasting implications for Medvedev in a negative sense.
While Tiafoe handled Grigor Dimitrov (who had to retire at 1-4 down in the fourth set) and Draper took apart the Australian Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 in the other quarterfinals, the best of the matches in that round was the skirmish between Fritz and Sascha Zverev. It was Zverev who squandered a two sets to love lead against Fritz in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Zverev seemed likely to reverse that result this time around in New York, but Fritz was not signing on to that scenario.
The No. 12 seed was determined to keep No. 4 Zverev at bay by serving prodigiously, and that is exactly what he did. In the first set, Zverev held on from 5-6, 0-40 to reach the tie-break, but an undismayed Fritz simply moved on and took control of the tie-break. He did not lose a point on his serve and won it seven points to two. Zverev retaliated in the second set, breaking Fritz for 5-3 and soon arriving at one set all.
Once more, Fritz displayed his resolve. He built a 3-0 third set lead before Zverev made it back to 3-3. At 4-5, however, Zverev’s forehand was a serious liability. He almost escaped from 0-40 again but Fritz came through in his fifth set point to take the set 6-4. Zverev was error prone throughout that sequence. Aside from two aces he played abominably. Fritz got the victory 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Will Zverev ever win a major? He served for the match in the fifth set of his final against Dominic Thiem but lost that clash, and led two sets to one against Alcaraz this year at Roland Garros before falling again. I am beginning to doubt that it will ever happen for the imperious yet strangely vulnerable Zverev.
The two biggest upsets at the 2024 Open were the defeats of No. 2 seed and defending champion Djokovic and No. 3 Alcaraz. Both players seemed to be still emotionally spent after their final round duel at the Olympic Games at Roland Garros a few weeks earlier. Djokovic bowed out in the third round, double faulting 14 times in a four set loss to No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin of Australia. Djokovic’s lack of serving rhythm coupled with his subdued demeanor led to a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6–4 defeat against a player who had stretched him to four sets in two majors earlier this season.
The 37-year-old Serbian had made the Olympic gold medal his primary goal for 2024, and his motivational zest was simply not there at the Open. As for Alcaraz, losing to Djokovic in such a beautifully played and hotly contested 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) final round match at the Olympics left him somewhat depressed. Unlike Djokovic, he played in Cincinnati and lost to Gael Monfils. He referred to that defeat as the worst of his career. At the Open, he was taken apart 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 by world No. 74 Botic van de Zandschulp.
A year ago, after Alcaraz had won his first Wimbledon title, he lost a blockbuster match lasting nearly four hours with Djokovic in the final of Cincinnati and was never the same player again the rest of the 2023 season. Will he drift into a similar tailspin again this autumn? That is entirely possible. Winning the French Open and Wimbledon back to back this year was a gigantic feat but we might not see the best of Alcaraz again until the start of next season at the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, Sinner is riding high. He has a virtual lock on the year-end No. 1 ATP Ranking. The pressure is off. He is making everyone think of him again as the great player and professional he is rather than the man at the center of a controversy. The view here is that he will fully recover his hard earned reputation as a champion of fundamental decency and integrity, and with his mind less cluttered he will soon move into the most productive phase of his career.
