Tennis-Sinner ready to disrupt Fritz’s American party in US Open final

By Amy Tennery

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jannik Sinner hopes to make his home crowd forget on Sunday when he takes on Taylor Fritz in the U.S. Open final at Flushing Meadows, where the No. 12 seed will try to become the first American in 21 years to win a Grand Slam singles title.

American fans have been accustomed to celebrating American triumphs for decades, with players like Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi collecting 41 slams between them from the 1970s to the early 2000s.

But since Andy Roddick won his only major at Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2003, the Americans have failed to win any of the four majors.

After a streak of 82 consecutive slams without a win, New York fans will be turning up the volume to deafening levels on Sunday as they cheer on Fritz and hope he can finally end that losing streak.

“I’ll accept it. I have my team and my loved ones who are by my side,” said Sinner, the Italian top seed. “In my mind, I know there are a lot of people watching from home in Italy and I just need them to support me.”

Sinner has had a stellar year with a major breakthrough at the Australian Open and was in fine form when he won the Cincinnati warm-up tournament last month.

But he did not receive the hero’s welcome a US Open seed usually receives when he arrives in New York, with a doping saga overshadowing his on-court exploits.

Days before the tournament began, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said he had tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March but avoided a ban when an independent tribunal accepted his claim that the positive tests were the result of unintentional contamination.

Some players and members of the media cried foul, but Sinner ignored the complaints as he cruised through the men’s draw, beating former champion Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals before beating Britain’s Jack Draper in a chaotic semi-final.

“We progressed day by day, without too many expectations. We tried to find our game, our rhythm,” Sinner said. “We just tried to find confidence as the days went by.”

The biggest question mark over his chances now is whether he injured his wrist in a fall during the semi-final, as he supported himself with his left hand when he fell to the court.

“The physiotherapist released the tension very quickly on the pitch, so afterwards I felt good at the beginning. Then the tension went away while playing, which is good,” Sinner told reporters.

He will be ready to deploy all the weapons in his arsenal against Fritz, seeded No. 12, who wants to defy the odds again after a convincing performance at Flushing Meadows.

Fritz beat former finalists Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev en route to the all-American semifinal, where he outlasted Frances Tiafoe.

He possesses one of the deadliest serves in the sport and has delivered over 75 aces during the tournament.

He’s also full of confidence in his ability to end the United States’ men’s major tournament drought on Sunday, with his career head-to-head record against Sinner tied at 1-1.

“I always enjoyed playing against him,” Fritz said. “I feel like I’m going to play really well and win. When I play good tennis, I think that level is good enough to win.”

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)