Taylor Fritz enjoyed his deepest major run at the US Open but said he felt as though he let American fans down after losing in the final, unable to end a long US men’s Grand Slam drought when he fell to top seed Jannik Sinner on Sunday.
No American man has hoisted a major trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003 and fans, including pop singers and Hollywood celebrities, piled into Arthur Ashe Stadium hoping to see it happen, cheering wildly as they urged on the 12th-seeded Fritz.
But Italian Sinner’s ruthless play snuffed out any hope Fritz might have had in straight sets and the American sat grimly at a post-match media conference, offering a withering appraisal of his performance.
“Right now I’m pretty just disappointed in … just a lot of things on the court, how I played, how I hit certain shots. It sucks,” he said after the 6-3 6-4 7-5 defeat.
“American fans, been wanting a men’s champion for a long time, and I just, I don’t know, I’m pretty upset with how I played. I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”
The progress Fritz made in New York was undeniable. He beat two top-10 opponents – former finalists Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev – en route to his first major semi-final, where he took down compatriot Frances Tiafoe.
It was the breakthrough he wanted after four previous major quarterfinal appearances.
“There’s obviously a lot of positives, and when I get some time to, like, cool down, you know, then I’ll be happy about the fact that I made it to the final,” he said.
He will get back into the top 10 as a result of his deep run at Flushing Meadows and will rejoin his countrymen to compete in the Laver Cup, leaving New York with at least one dream realised.
“Hearing the crowd go crazy and just kind of, like, soaking in the moment,” he said.
“Like, I’m walking out to play my match on Ashe in the US Open final (it) is what I dreamed about my whole life. It almost got me emotional, but I was just really happy and ready to enjoy the moment.”
Meanwhile, more than a million fans passed through the gates of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center over three weeks of US Open qualifying and main draw play, the most ever for the year’s final Grand Slam, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said on Sunday.
The record 1,048,669 fans represented an 8% increase over 2023 and included a record 832,640 attendees during the two weeks of main draw matches, the USTA said.
The tournament wrapped up on Sunday after world No. 1 Sinner defeated 12th seed Fritz in the men’s final.
World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka beat sixth seed Jessica Pegula on Saturday to claim the women’s title.