Jannik Sinner beats Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in US Open men's final

Jannik Sinner started slowly at the US Open, dropping the first set he played after being exonerated in a doping case no one knew about until shortly before play began at Flushing Meadows.

If that episode initially hung over him during the tournament, Sinner was able to put it aside while on court. Was he ever. The No. 1-ranked Sinner beat Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 with his typical relentless baseline game to win the men's championship at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday, less than three weeks after word emerged of his two positive drug tests.

"This title, for me, means so much," said Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy, "because the last period of my career was really not easy".

He won the second Grand Slam trophy of his nascent career the other was at the Australian Open in January and prevented No. 12 Fritz from ending a major title drought for American men that has lasted 21 years.

Andy Roddick's triumph at Flushing Meadows in 2003 was the last Slam title for a man from the United