An American man is into the final of a Grand Slam — and the US Open at that — for the first time since 2005. Taylor Fritz will compete for the final major of the year with tons of local support, but overcoming his opponent will be no easy task, as he’ll face the top-seeded Jannik Sinner in the final.
Sinner, 23, bested Jack Draper of England, 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-2, in the first semifinal that saw both players require medical attention. Draper vomited twice while Sinner had to get his wrist tended to by trainers after a fall. Fritz, 26, faced fellow American and friend Frances Tiafoe in the other semifinal on Friday, winning a five-set thriller, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
The final where Sinner and Fritz will meet is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, and will be broadcast on ABC, with live streaming on ESPN Plus from Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Andy Roddick was the last American man to win a Grand Slam, having won the US Open in 2003, and was also the last American man to make a Slam final, when he lost to Roger Federer in 2009. Since then, Americans have struggled to make any kind of headway in the men’s singles brackets, and Roddick’s accomplishments have stood alone.
But Fritz is hoping to change that here, even if it meant ending the run of his countryman and good friend in Tiafoe. Both showed up to play, and both of them had the edge at different points. Fritz won the first three games, and then dropped six of the next seven.
They exchanged sets back-and-forth, with Tiafoe taking the first, setting up a fifth set to decide who gets to play in the final. Friday’s semifinal was the eighth time Tiafoe and Fritz have faced each other in professional singles competition, with Fritz now holding a 7-1 edge over his friend. Tiafoe seemed to run out of gas by the end of the fourth set, which wouldn’t have served him particularly well against Sinner in the final.
Sinner won his first ever Grand Slam title at the Australian Open to begin this season, and he’s still searching for his second. He made it as far as the semifinal at Roland Garros, and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but this is his first final since Australia. He also had to miss the Olympics prior to this tournament due to a bout with tonsillitis.
It’s also been a rough time for the Italian after he received an anti-doping sanction for testing positive for Clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid. The ITIA ultimately accepted Sinner’s explanation that the substance entered his system by means of a massage from a member of his team, and he was allowed to participate at the US Open.
Draper, the 25th seed, came into the semifinal as a huge underdog and clearly struggled with nerves in the biggest match of his career. His best finish at the other Slams were second-round appearances at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, both of which he also managed this year. The 22-year-old clearly has a lot of success ahead of him, either way, but Sinner was simply too much to handle at this stage.
Tiafoe, 26, will go back to the drawing board after falling short in his second ever Grand Slam semifinal, as he also made it to this point in 2022.
Below, you can find how both finalists got to this point as well as the viewing information for the men’s final. And don’t forget that the women’s final is set for Saturday, when Aryna Sabalenka takes on Jessica Pegula.
US Open men’s singles final
No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 12 Taylor Fritz (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN Plus)
No. 1 Jannik Sinner’s path to the final
def. Mackenzie McDonald, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2
def. Alex Michelsen, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2
def. Christopher O’Connell, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
def. No. 14 Tommy Paul, 7-6(3), 7-6(5), 6-1
def. No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
def. No. 25 Jack Draper, 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-2
No. 12 Taylor Fritz’s path to the final
def. Camilo Ugo Carabelli 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
def. Matteo Berrettini, 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-1
def. Francisco Comesana, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
def. No. 8 Casper Ruud, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
def. No. 4 Alexander Zverev, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3)
def. No. 20 Frances Tiafoe, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
