US Open men’s final pick

Jannik Sinner
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

Jannik Sinner over Taylor Fritz 

Is it truly possible that an American man can win the US Open? Maybe, as in 2003, Andy Roddick took it, and he played spectacularly, but he could not do it again after that. 

Perhaps  Fritz can snag it, yet he is an underdog because the Italian and No. 1 Sinner, who is on fire, and his strokes are massive.

The San Diegan Fritz has only won at the ATP 1000s, at the 2022 Indian Wells, but currently, he is playing so much better with some terrific shots. He can tally, side to side, and to mix it up, too, but he has to try to put it away whenever he gets a chance.  

Sinner has become much smarter on the court. Even though he might make some errors, he is able to retrieve the ball and refocus. His first serve is very strong and his backhand and forehand are forceful. These skills helped him win the 2024 Australian Open and, more recently, the Cincinnati tournament.

Fritz can also vary his first serve, placing it into the corners while adding spin or flattening it out near the lines.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing him,” said Fritz. “To be honest, I don’t think that I’m going to be put in a more stressful situation. … When I play good tennis, I think that level is good enough to win.”

Sinner has won a Slam once, at the 2024 Austrian Open, and recently, he won Cincinnati, a few weeks ago, so he is locked in.

They have played each other twice at Indian Wells, California, on the hard courts; once in 2021 and once in 2023. The American won at Indian Wells in March 2022 under the hot weather conditions. Since Roddick retired, after coming close to winning at Wimbledon and the US Open multiple times, he has won many big titles. However, the current American male players have not won any ATP 1000 titles except for Fritz. Maybe they are ready to achieve it someday.00 titles except for Fritz. Maybe they are ready to achieve it someday.

“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,” Fritz said about Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda, and Ben Shelton“ 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.”

He will try to jump against Sinner, in the first set, and hopefully, to shut him down. However, Sinner is more composed and he believes he can hitch his heavy strokes. He might back up a little bit, but Sinner will rise very high. He will win it 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3.