US Open star Taylor Fritz makes bold statement that Jannik Sinner won't like
Taylor Fritz will contest his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open.
Taylor Fritz made a bold declaration ahead of his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open.
The world No. 12 is the first American man to reach this stage at a Major in 15 years. He is bidding to end a 21-year drought for a champion.
Fritz beat Frances Tiafoe in an all-American semi-final on Friday night and said their clash was more “stressful” than the final will be, claiming that he matched up well against Jannik Sinner and could come out and “win”.
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Sinner came into Flushing Meadows as one of the favourites - not only is he the top seed, he won the Cincinnati Open right before the final Grand Slam of the season. And his status as top pick for the title only strengthened when Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz were knocked out.
It means Fritz will be the underdog in Sunday’s final. But the 26-year-old claimed that his semi-final was harder to deal with than facing the world No. 1 in a championship match. Asked why he was so confident, Fritz replied: “I've always enjoyed playing him.
“To be honest, I don't think that I'm gonna be put in a more, like, stressful situation than I was today than playing in a final. I think today was much more stressful than me playing the final. I just feel good.”
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And Fritz was so assured that he suggested he would win. “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,” he added.
Elaborating on his strong statements, Fritz said the historic consequences of being the first American to reach a Slam final in 15 years played a huge role in the stress he felt in the semis. “Yeah, I mean, it's two Americans to make it to the final. Both of us want to be the guy to make it to the final,” he explained.
“I had a 6 and 1 head-to-head leading into it. I'm not thinking, I'm not going into this thinking that I'm the favourite, because everything's totally different when you're playing a match like this. He's been playing unbelievable all US Open. He's been playing in the night match slot on Ashe every single match.
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“Like, I'm not thinking I'm the favourite, but it's tough to go in as, like, the record 6 to 1, this is to make a US Open final, whoever wins it is the American that made it to the final. I mean, it's a stressful situation to be in.”
In comparison, Fritz believes he will thrive as the underdog against Sinner - especially because he backs himself in their matchup. He continued: “It's different from playing the World No. 1 who you're probably not going to be the favourite against.
“But I think I've always played well against Jannik. I think we're 1 and 1. It's been a while since we played but last time he got me in three at Indian Wells. I don't know, he strikes, he hits the ball big, he's like a very strong ball striker, but I feel like I always hit the ball really nice off of his ball. Yeah, I don't know, I think I typically play well against him.”
