Taylor Fritz will face Jannik Sinner in the 2024 US Open final, and the American got some advice from Nick Kyrgios, whose only Grand Slam final experience ended in defeat.
Kyrgios once was where Fritz will find himself on Sunday evening. The Australian played in a Grand Slam final as a heavy underdog against a player whom most picked as the winner of that matchup.
Fritz will find himself in a similar position when he contests his maiden Grand Slam final. He is the big underdog against Sinner, whom most people expect to win his second Grand Slam trophy.
While there are noticeable differences between Kyrgios' final and Fritz's, there are also some similarities. Ahead of the final, the 2022 Wimbledon finalist drew from his own experience and gave Fritz some advice because, in reality, he might need all the help he can get.
Sinner has been playing at an amazing level, making some of the best players, like Daniil Medvedev, look powerless against him. As pointed out by many before, Fritz will need to serve really well.
Kyrgios agrees with that because it's paramount to keep Sinner away from any chances. The fewer chances the American can give him, the more likely he will be to win the match.
"[Taylor Fritz] needs to have one of his best serving days. [Jannik Sinner] will be looking to be aggressive and dictate play whenever he can to try and move the big American around, especially after 5 sets with foe. Fritz needs to win high percentage of Sinner's second serve chances."
Besides the serve, the American will need to stay aggressive, especially on Sinner's weaker second serve. Part of what has made the Italian so incredibly dominant in the past year is his improvement on his second serve.
Not only has it improved both in power and consistency, but it's also become a weapon. He's very hard to break because both his first and second serves are so solid.
Before that, Sinner had a mediocre second serve, and it used to get him into a lot of trouble. Still, it will be an incredibly difficult matchup for Fritz. Sinner is expected to win, but as Kyrgios pointed out, he's not invincible.
He was superb against Tommy Paul but seemed beatable against Jack Draper, even though he won the match in three sets. It's just that the Brit couldn't muster up the needed level. Fritz can, and if he gets the crowd involved, he might just have enough to push him past the Italian.
"[Jannik Sinner] looked amazing against Paul, but beatable against Draper. I think the Italian is heavy favorite for the final, [Taylor Fritz] definitely needs to get crowd involved. Fritz - needs red line tennis from the baseline whenever he can get on top. Needs to. Should be a good one."
Whoever wins, it should be a great final at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Fritz will give it his all. Sinner won't lack any motivation, and both have shown a high level so far. Fans will win either way.
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