With doping questions following him, Jannik Sinner wins US Open title

NEW YORK — Jannik Sinner threw his arms above his head, closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

It was only when he let his arms drop again to his side that he showed the faintest hint of a smile.

While the rest of his team and his player box jumped to their feet, his coach Darren Cahill remained in his seat, bent over with his head in his hands. He appeared to be wiping away tears from his face.

The 23-year-old Italian had just won the US Open behind a staggering 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over American Taylor Fritz. After months of uncertainty and doubt, the relief he felt was evident with every step he took towards the net to shake hands and hug Fritz, and as he slowly made his way to his box to embrace all those that had been on the journey with him.

It was Sinner’s second major title of the year — and of his career — and he becomes the first Italian man to win in New York and just the third man in the Open Era to earn his first two Slam titles in the same season. He further extended his lead as the world No. 1.

But in those moments after the match, Sinner wasn’t necessarily thinking about the big picture or what this meant for his long-term legacy in the sport. Instead, it was a weight off of his shoulders after a challenging few months of waiting to know his fate on the tennis court after testing positive for a banned substance during two separate tests in March.

“This title for me means so much, because the last period of my career was really not easy,” Sinner told the crowd shortly after.

Sinner opened the 2024 season with his first major title at the Australian Open, cementing his spot as one of the best young stars in the sport — and as an heir apparent, alongside Carlos Alcaraz — that could help replace Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic once they eventually joined Roger Federer in retirement.

And he continued to demonstrate his hard-court prowess with the title in Miami in March. He reached the semifinals at the French Open and took over the world No. 1 ranking at the event’s conclusion. He made the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in July.

Tonsillitis forced him to withdraw from the Olympics, but he was back in time for the hard-court summer season. He reached the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open before a dominant run at the Cincinnati Open, culminating with the title, at the final lead-in event before the US Open.

Sinner seemed to be the…