Can Fritz end American wait for major champ or will Sinner stop him in US Open final?
pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/taylor-fritz/fb98/overview'Taylor Fritz/a is closing in on history at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a. The 26-year-old will become the first American man to win a major title since a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-roddick/r485/overview'Andy Roddick/a in 2003 if he triumphs in the final on Sunday in New York, ending a 21-year wait./p
pThe 12th seed battled hard to overcome countryman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/frances-tiafoe/td51/overview'Frances Tiafoe/a in five sets in the semi-finals and also defeated seeds a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexander-zverev/z355/overview'Alexander Zverev/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/casper-ruud/rh16/overview'Casper Ruud/a to reach his maiden Grand Slam final. However, his biggest test is to come, with the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a, standing in his way between glory./p
pSinner has been the man to beat in 2024 and is set to compete in his second major final on Sunday. The Italian clinched his first Slam crown at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a in January and holds a perfect 5-0 record in tour-level finals in 2024./p
pThe 23-year-old moved past 2021 champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/daniil-medvedev/mm58/overview'Daniil Medvedev/a in the quarters in New York and then beat British lefty a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jack-draper/d0co/overview'Jack Draper/a in the semi-finals to earn his 11th consecutive win, having captured his third ATP Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati last month. In his match against Draper, Sinner suffered a scare when he fell on his left wrist in the second set. However, the top seed hopes the issue wonrsquo;t harm his chances in the final./p
pldquo;The physio loosened it up very fast on court, so after I felt okay in the beginning. Then after it went away by playing, which is good,rdquo; Sinner said in his post-match press conference on Friday. ldquo;Let's see how it is [Saturday] when it's cold. It's going to be a different feeling. Hopefully is nothing to concern about. I'm quite relaxed, because if it's something bad, you feel it straightaway a bit more.rdquo;/p
p
pFritz had lost at the quarter-final stage at a major four times before his run this fortnight but is now playing with the belief that he can go all the way. The 26-year-old, who is the first American man to reach a major final since Roddick at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a in 2009, is determined to end the 21-year wait for an American Grand Slam champion and believes he can trouble Sinner./p
pldquo;I've always enjoyed playing him,rdquo; said Fritz. ldquo;To be honest, I don't think that I'm going to be put in a more stressful situation than I was today than playing in a final. I think today was much more stressful for me than playing the final. I just feel good,rdquo; Fritz said. ldquo;I have a feeling I'm going to come out and play really well and win. When I play good tennis, I think that level is good enough to win.rdquo;/p
pstrongAmerican men a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a champions (since 1990)/strong/p
table
tbody
tr
tda href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-roddick/r485/overview'Andy Roddick/anbsp;/td
td2003nbsp;/td
/tr
tr
tda href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pete-sampras/s402/overview'Pete Sampras/a/td
td2002/td
/tr
tr
tda href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andre-agassi/a092/overview'Andre Agassi/a/td
td1999/td
/tr
tr
tda href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pete-sampras/s402/overview'Pete Sampras/a/td
td1996nbsp;/td
/tr
tr
tda href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pete-sampras/s402/overview'Pete Sampras/a/td
td1995/td
/tr
tr
tda href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andre-agassi/a092/overview'Andre Agassi/a/td
td1994/td
/tr
tr
tda href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pete-sampras/s402/overview'Pete Sampras/a/td
td1993/td
/tr
tr
tda href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/pete-sampras/s402/overview'Pete Sampras/a/td
td1990/td
/tr
/tbody
/table
pThe American and Italian are locked at 1-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with both of their previous meetings coming on hard courts in Indian Wells. Fritz will be hoping to use the home crowd to his advantage when the pair walk onto the 23,000-seater a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-ashe/a063/overview'Arthur Ashe/a Stadium on Sunday at 2 p.m. EDT and the American reflected on the positive state of American tennis ahead of the title match./p
pldquo;I think it gives hope and shows that we're knocking on the door of winning a Slam, and we have this generation, this group of guys where there's four or five of us that are actually at this level,rdquo; Fritz said, referencing Top 20 stars Tiafoe, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tommy-paul/pl56/overview'Tommy Paul/a, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/sebastian-korda/k0ah/overview'Sebastian Korda/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ben-shelton/s0s1/overview'Ben Shelton/a./p
pldquo;I mean, it shows that we're all moving in the right direction. I think that whenever one of us does something, the others follow, and the others get belief from it. I think this is just the start for all of us.rdquo;/p
pstronga rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/players/atp-head-2-head/jannik-sinner-vs-taylor-fritz/s0ag/fb98" target="_blank"Sinner vs. Fritz Lexus ATP Head2Head series/a/strong/p
table
tbody
tr
tdstrongYear/strong/td
tdstrongResultnbsp;/strong/td
tdstrongEventnbsp;/strong/td
/tr
tr
td2023/td
tdSinner d. Fritz/td
tdIndian Wells QF/td
/tr
tr
td2021/td
tdFritz d. Sinner/td
tdIndian Wells R4/td
/tr
/tbody
/table
pOn Sunday, the full focus of the United States will be on Fritz, who will have to serve well and be aggressive from the baseline to hit through Sinner, who defends well out of the corners and can cause anyone problems with his weight and depth of shot./p
pSinner has become accustomed to the big occasion in 2024, with no player earning more titles this year. Currently 54-5 on the season, the 23-year-old is relishing the opportunity to take on an American in New York./p
pldquo;Being in America for sure, the crowd will be a little bit more on [his] side. But it's normal. It's like when I play in Italy, so I'm going tonbsp;accept that,rdquo; Sinner said. ldquo;I have my team and my people who are close to me. In my mind, I know that there are many people watching from home from Italy, and it's just take some support from them.rdquo;/p
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pBy reaching the final, Sinner has taken command in the battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours. The Italian is currently 2,185 points clear of second-placednbsp;a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexander-zverev/z355/overview'Alexander Zverev/a in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, which serves as a barometer for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours. Sinner will take a 2,885-point lead if he wins the title./p
pThe former a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/next-gen-atp-finals/7696/overview'Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF/a champion is the first Italian man to reach the title match in New York and is aiming to become the first player sincenbsp;a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/guillermo-vilas/v028/overview'Guillermo Vilas/a in 1977 to win his first and second Grand Slam titles in the same season./p
pWith experience on Sinnerrsquo;s side, Fritz will hope momentum can help him in his quest to defeat the top seed. The American, who captured the biggest title of his career in Indian Wells in 2022, was overjoyed after reaching the final on Friday night./p
pldquo;It hit me when he [Eubanks] said the thing about how I'm in the finals and the crowd was cheering,rdquo; Fritz said. ldquo;It's just kind of like how I am. I'm more of an emotional person when I'm happy. When I'm really happy I cry at happy endings of movies and not at sad stuff. That's kind of just how I am./p
pldquo;It's just joy, the crowd cheering and kind of that realisation, like lsquo;Wow, I'm in the finals of thenbsp;a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a. It's such a lifelong dream come true. Something I've worked my whole life for to be in this situation.rdquo;/p
pstrongRead more ahead of the 2024 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a final/strongbr /
a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/news/sinner-us-open-2024-wrist-injury" target="_blank"Sinner takes 'wait-and-see' approach with wrist/abr /
a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fritz-us-open-2024-sf-reaction-saturday" target="_blank"Fritz on reaching final: 'It is a lifelong dream come true'/abr /
a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/news/sinner-draper-us-open-2024-sf-friday" target="_blank"Sinner shakes off wrist scare to down Draper, reaches final/abr /
a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fritz-tiafoe-us-open-2024-sf" target="_blank"Fritz rallies past Tiafoe to reach first Grand Slam final at US Open/abr /
a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fritz-us-open-2024-wolfgang-oswald-feature" target="_blank"Taylor Fritz: Inside the American's rise amp; competitive spirit/a/p
pFritz is up five spots to No. 7 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings after advancing to his fourth tour-level final of the season and is also in strong contention for qualifying for the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a. The American is fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and would jump to fourth with victory./p
pIn what is set to be a blockbuster match on Sunday, can Fritz end the 21-year American wait for a male major titlist, or will Sinner show the form he has all year and produce lsquo;lock-down modersquo; to clinch his sixth title of 2024?/p
pFor more information on how to watch the final in New York from 2 p.m. EDT/ 8 p.m. CET. on Sunday, clicknbsp;a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/news/sinner-fritz-us-open-2024-final-time" target="_blank"here/a./p
p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p