Fritz was looking to become the first American since 2003 to win the US Open singles title, but was unable to withstand Sinner’s powerful baseline shots and suffered six breaks in the final.

Sinner only managed five points with his first serve and hit 23 winners with 21 unforced errors.

Fritz has reached new milestones in the last two weeks by reaching the semifinals and final of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, and the fact that he did well in this tournament without playing his best tennis is encouraging.

However, the immediate feeling after the finale is disappointment.

“There are a lot of positives, of course, and when I have some time to cool down, I’ll be happy that I made it to the final and stuff. But right now I’m just pretty disappointed with how many things were on the court, how I played, how I hit certain shots. It sucks,” said the No. 12 seed, who will re-enter the top 10 of the rankings on Monday.

“And I’m not saying it would have necessarily made a difference. I don’t know if it would have made a difference, but I just would have liked to have played better and given myself a better chance. It’s really disappointing right now. I feel like the fans, the American fans, have obviously wanted a men’s champion for a long time, and I’m just, I don’t know, pretty disappointed with how I played. I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”