After 2024 US Open final run, Taylor Fritz still sees room for improvement

Unfortunately for Fritz, nothing blunts momentum like Sinner’s punishingly accurate groundstrokes. The world No. 1 broke back as the American served for the set, and then claimed the next two games to capture the championship. While hopes were high that spectactors could potentially withness history and witness the first American man to capture his home Slam since Andy Roddick did in 2003, they'd have to wait at least another 12 months. 

The drought of American male Grand Slam champions seemed to weigh on Fritz after the match. Indeed, the world No. 12 was the first man representing the red, white, and blue to contest a major final since Roger Federer defeated Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.

“I feel like American fans have been wanting a men's champion for a long time, and I don't know, I'm pretty upset with how I played,” he said in his post-match press conference. “I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”

“Yeah, I mean, I'd say he's definitely improved a little bit since I beat him in straight sets at Indian Wells in 2021,” Fritz said with a laugh. “If I want to [look back] to 2021 Indian Wells, the serve and the movement are massive improvements now. [Back then,] I could find myself in a lot of return games just off of his first serve. I felt like I could get myself in points off of his first serve every time. Then it was much easier to hurt him from the ground, as well. And he's much faster now, a lot better out of the corners.”

Knowing that is ultimately cold comfort for Fritz; he felt like he was capable of raising his level and giving himself “a better chance.” But he did find some positives in the experience overall.

“Walking on the court and just hearing the crowd go crazy, just soaking in the moment of, ‘I'm walking out to play my match on Ashe in the US Open finals which is what I dreamed about my whole life,’ it almost got me emotional," he said. "But I was just really happy and ready to enjoy the moment."

“I think the biggest thing is [that] I played solid this week, but I played very within myself,” he said. “I don't think at any point I was, like, ‘Wow, I'm playing incredible’ or ‘I'm playing out of my mind.’ I think that's just extremely reassuring to me that I was able to get to this point, just playing solid tennis. I know that there's still a lot of room for improvement. 

“And something I've said throughout my entire career, whether it's when I won my first ATP point or I won my first Challenger or I made my first Round of 16 or whatever it is, I've always said once I do something once, I just feel a lot more confident in being able to do it again. That's something that's always stuck with me. Sometimes it's taken me some time to get to a certain achievement, but I've always felt like once I've done something, I gain a lot of confidence that I can do it again. I feel like it's repeatable.”

Good to hear for 2025.