Brain Game

Where Sinner dominated Fritz in US Open final

Sixty baseline points won to 32.

Jannik Sinner was basically twice as good as Taylor Fritz from the back of the court in winning the US Open men’s singles title on Sunday.

Sinner won 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 on the back of dominating bruising baseline exchanges that constantly had Fritz struggling to hang with his more powerful adversary. Fritz had won 49.8 per cent (328/659) of his baseline points leading into the final, but that match metric got crushed down to a lowly 34 per cent (32/94) against the rampaging Italian.

Baseline dominance has been the leading story of Sinner’s title-run in New York. Overall, he won 53.2 per cent (386/726) of baseline points in seven matches to take the title. What he did to opponents was head-turning.

Baseline Points Won By Sinner’s Opponents

• Taylor Fritz = 34%
• Jack Draper = 37.6%
• Daniil Medvedev = 40%
• Tommy Paul = 38.6%
• Christopher O’Connell = 35.8%
• Alex Michelsen = 44.6%
• Mackenzie McDonald 39.8%
• AVERAGE = 38.6%

The average for baseline points won for the tournament was 46.9 per cent (13,894/29,597). It’s jaw-dropping to consider that not one of Sinner’s opponents for the tournament won more than the tournament average. Alex Michelsen was the highest at 44.6 per cent, while Fritz was the lowest at 34 per cent.

Fritz was hoping to get off to a fast start in the match but only won 12 baseline points in the opening set and just seven in the second set. He did win 13 in the third set, but that was still not in the same ballpark as Sinner’s 23.

Sinner’s dominance was not built around hitting winners from the back of the court. It was much more about mitigating his errors.

Forehand Performance

• Sinner: 12 winners / 26 errors = -14
• Fritz: 10 winners / 39 errors = -29

 

Backhand Performance

• Sinner: 2 winners / 16 errors = -14
• Fritz: 3 winners / 27 errors = -24

The winner/error tally is a revealing one for the American and highlights his difficulty staying with Sinner running side to side from the back of the court. Another compounding problem for Fritz was his lack of productivity at the net. He won 68 per cent (13/19) of points at the front of the court. But averaging right around six times at net per set was not about to change the baseline dynamic that Sinner was enjoying.

Fritz was able to hang with Sinner when rallies were shorter. But as soon as a fifth shot or longer landed in the court, Fritz didn’t have the extra gear to stay with the Italian.

Rally Length: Points Won

0-4 Shots
Sinner: 60
Fritz: 56

5+ Shots
Sinner 36
Fritz: 23

The final was a natural extension of Sinner’s dominance in baseline exchanges and extended rallies. He has ruled the roost in those two specific areas for two weeks in New York, and the final followed precisely the same script. The average rally length for the final was 4.58 shots, considerably higher than the tournament average of 3.86.

Sinner owned that extra shot in the court.