Jannik Sinner Is the 2024 US Open Men’s Singles Champion

In front of a record crowd that included Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, Usher, Bad Bunny, Maria Sharapova, Roddick, Tracy Austin, Eddie Redmayne, Matthew McConaughey (donning an American flag bandanna around his head), Jon Hamm, Molly Ringwald, Dustin Hoffman, Mikaela Shiffrin, Jon Bon Jovi, and Elon Musk, the two played three sets of intense, big-serve tennis. And while many tennis experts were, in advance, skeptical of the 12th-seeded Fritz’s ability to hang with the first-seeded (and world number one) Sinner, he did just that—when he broke Sinner’s serve at 3-3 in the third set, the crowd went nuts. But when Fritz served for the set two games later, Sinner broke him back. And when Fritz served two games later and 5-6 in the third, Sinner broke him again, taking the game, the set, the match, and the title. (And along with the now-traditional winner’s journey into the stands to hug his or her team came another friend that Sinner hugged and thanked: the singer and producer Seal.)

“It’s been an amazing run,” an emotional Fritz said at the trophy presentation after the match. “Being an American at the US Open has been an incredible feeling. I know we’ve been waiting for a championship for along time and I’m sorry I couldn’t get it done this time, but I’m going to keep working.”

It’s Sinner’s second major title, after taking the Australian Open in January. And though his path through the Open was no doubt eased by the surprising early upsets of both Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, winning any major title in tennis speaks for itself (as does that number one ranking). It would be easy, surely, to be just a bit complacent after a year like that?

Not for Sinner.