World number one Jannik Sinner became only the fourth man this century to win the Australian Open and the US Open titles in the same year. After winning 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 against Taylor Fritz he revealed his thoughts on his performance and looked back on his stand out season.
“Yeah, amazing. Amazing feeling. Obviously, it was a tough match,” he told reporters in New York. “I felt like I was playing some good tennis from the back of the court. I’m happy about today’s (Sunday’s) performance. It was a great run, overall. For sure winning the first Grand Slam of the year gives you confidence, it gives you good feelings. But you always have to work, you have to – it never stops. It’s like you always keep going and keep going. Until now I didn’t have so much time off to say, ‘okay, you have done a great job!’”
Sinner has only lost five matches this year and is almost unbeatable on hard courts. Although Fritz had served 75 aces in six matches, Sinner was able to nullify the American’s biggest weapon and draw him into longer baseline exchanges where he dominated the extended rallies. He regularly smacked forehands at over 85mph and ended with 23 winners overall, winning a massive 88% of points on his first serve.
After a superb start to the year where he won his maiden Slam down under, he also won titles in, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, and Cincinnati, building up a stunning 35-2 records on the hard courts in the process – his only two defeats coming to Andrey Rublev in Canada and Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells.
Sinner becomes only the fourth man in the last 50 years to win his first two Slams within the same calendar year, behind Mats Wilander, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. When asked whether it was harder to win in Australia or in New York, Sinner explained that it wasn’t really possible to compare the two as they occur under different circumstances at different times of the year.
“I believe that in Melbourne [it felt like] a kind of a relief, because in my mind, I was working for it, and you never know if you can win one Grand Slam or not. But when you win one, you know that you can do it potentially. Here (at the US Open) it was difficult because also the pretournament circumstances weren’t easy. I felt like I have grown, match by match and that my confidence level went higher and higher at some point. It was different because I had maybe a bit more pressure this time than in Australia. I’m happy how I handled this one. Yeah, I’m just excited to have this trophy with me.”
Fritz was outplayed in the first set and was broken three times. He lifted his game in the second set and only lost two points on serve but was broken at 4-5 down in the game that really mattered. Finally in the third set he was able to use the crowd to his advantage and had his chance to extend the match when serving at 5-4 up, but was unable to do so. Instead, he lost the final three games.
By winning the final Slam of the year, it means that both Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have shared the four biggest titles and – for the first time in 22 years – prevented one of the Big 3 from winning a Major.
“Well, it is a bit different, for sure. I mean, it’s something new, but it’s also nice to see,” said Sinner. “Nice to see new champions. Nice to see new rivalries. I always have players and I will always have players who are going to make me a better player, because there are going to be times where they beat me. Then you have to try to find a way how to win against certain players. Yeah, I feel it’s good for the sport to have some new champions.”
Embed from Getty ImagesHowever, despite victory it was inevitable Sinner would have to face further questions on the elephant in the room. Almost a week before the start of the US Open, the tennis world was rocked with news that Sinner had tested positive for low levels of a metabolite of clostebol (a steroid that could be used to build muscle mass) in March. He avoided a ban – something which has proved to be controversial both inside and outside of the locker room. Sinner revealed how he had coped once the news of his positive tests broke, and whether he felt there was still a cloud of uncertainty hanging over him during the tournament.
“Well, it’s difficult to describe everything. My team and the people who are close to me, they know what I’ve been through in the last few months. It was not only one week before the tournament. I always try to stick together with them, especially when the moments are getting difficult and tough, because I know that they can help me. I always try to close myself with people and understand also what happened and then trying to accept it in a certain way. Obviously, it was very difficult for me to enjoy in certain moments. It was not easy, but I tried to stay focused, which I guess I’ve done a great job mentally staying there every point I play, and that’s it.” He reflected.
Sinner explained further that he was grateful for the support he has received since the news of his two tests came out, despite not universal: “Well, the general reaction of the players was quite positive, even when things came out. Then there have been, of course, some different voices, but this is in everything. This is not only in tennis. This is in other sports and different jobs also. I mean, you can’t really do anything about that.”
After the match, the top seeded Italian gave thanks to his team who detected that he was not as comfortable as before, and for supporting him through his difficult period. And during the US Open he was able to rediscover a little of his usual persona.
“It was not the same as I used to be, how I behaved or how I walked on the court in certain tournaments before. Whoever knows me better, they knew that something was wrong,” he said. “But during this tournament, slowly I restarted to feel a little bit more how I am as a person. Doesn’t really matter how or what the result was. This tournament, for sure, helped me a little bit. Now it’s good to have small amount of time, a little bit off, and then to restart again for China.”
After his victory, Sinner spoke on court and dedicated his win to his aunt who sadly is in poor health. “I would like to dedicate this title to my aunt because she is really not feeling well health-wise, I don’t know how much longer I’ll have her in my life. It’s so nice that I can still share positive moments with her. She was a very important person for my life and she still is. So, if that would be the biggest wish, I would wish everyone the best health to everyone but unfortunately it’s not possible.”
And later in his post-match press conference, he elaborated further on his special relationship with her: “She’s a very important person, because when my parents were working every day, sometimes when I had to go to ski races, I went with her. She always helped me in summertime when my parents were working and I had some free days. When you are young you don’t go to practice every day. So, I [used to] hang around with her a lot, and she’s a very important person in my life.”
Even though Sinner now has two Slams at the age of 23, he still recognises the hard work ahead in his pursuit of more Major titles as he tries to cement his place in tennis history.
“Today we saw that not everything was perfect. I could have served slightly better, but this makes me realize that the work never stops. If you want to be a better player you always have to work, and you have to have these daily routines, accept difficult times on court. A big thanks also to my team, because we always try some new work, some new things: tactically, how can you play better against certain opponents, how you work on such shots, whatever you feel is better or not. I was in the gym a lot, because I knew physically, I still had to improve and I still have to improve more. This is all part of sacrifices you make for an eventual future. So, we will keep working. In my mind, I know that I’m not perfect and I will never be perfect, but we always try to evolve in my game. Then after my career I can say, okay, I’ve done everything possible to be at 100%.” He concluded.
