It was a picture-perfect day for Taylor Fritz, who won the men’s final of the US Open. The weather was cool and windless. The sun streaming into Arthur Ashe Stadium stayed off the court and disappeared from his face. But most importantly, an all-American crowd – including pop singer Taylor Swift and other stars of sport and film – was firmly behind Fritz. It turned out to be an exquisite afternoon, the kind that can define a summer – or in Fritz’s case, a lifetime. But then Jannik Sinner had to step in and spoil it.

On Sunday, the world number one made short work of Fritz, defeating the American in a clear straight-sets victory that lasted just over two hours, en route to winning the US Open – the second Grand Slam title of his budding career. While the Italian climbed into the stands to celebrate with his team of fans (“Bravo, Jannik,” singer Seal cooed to him mid-hug. “Forza”), Fritz sat slumped in his chair, hands on his head, pondering what might have been.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make it this time,” Fritz said after failing in his attempt to become the first American to win his Grand Slam title in 21 years. “But I’m going to keep working and do it next time.” The urge to sympathize with him was almost too great. “You’ll make it,” ESPN host Chris McKendry said consolingly – only to be outdone by the USTA’s Brian Hainline. “We know you have a Grand Slam champion in you,” the association’s chairman said.

Fritz still wore a contrite expression at his post-match press conference, but he was careful not to let his expressions of sympathy turn into pity. Most notably, he dismissed the notion that his five-set semifinal loss to fellow countryman Frances Tiafoe cost him physically or mentally, and gave Sinner credit for the improvements he’s made to his game – particularly his serve – since meeting in the 2023 Indian Wells quarterfinals. Beyond that, Fritz could feel a certain level of satisfaction at having advanced so far in a Grand Slam tournament. “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,” he said. “But right now I’m pretty disappointed with how many things are on the court – how I played, how I hit certain shots. It sucks.”

If any American has made it this far, it’s Fritz, tennis star Todd Marinovich. Like the fabled quarterback who was cut out for NFL stardom from the start, Fritz was destined for athletic success. His mother, Kathy, was a top-10 player on the women’s tour. His father, Guy, also a former pro, is a celebrated youth coach. Fritz also comes from a wealthy family, which is an advantage in a sport that can be very expensive; his great-great-grandfather founded a department store chain that was eventually acquired by Macy’s.

Not unlike Mike Agassi, a notoriously abusive tennis dad, Guy began training his son as a toddler, drilling him until he could walk down a balance beam unaided. At their 7,000-square-foot hacienda in Rancho Santa Fe, a wealthy enclave north of San Diego where Bing Crosby once hosted golf tournaments, Guy trained his son in a custom-built home gym and prescribed a diet high in vegetables and low in sugar. So it should come as no surprise that Fritz cut ties with his father shortly before entering the pro league—after becoming the first American since Andy Roddick and Donald Young to become the world’s top junior male player in 2015.

A year later, Fritz, still a teenager, married his childhood sweetheart, another young player named Raquel Pedraza. A year later, they had a son, Jordan. In 2019, barely in his twenties, he divorced – and this after reaching the top 30 in the world rankings in his fourth year on tour. The following year, Covid came and stopped everything.

Any of these life events should have been enough to end a budding tennis career—especially if that career belonged to a young woman. That said, it’s very likely that a young woman wouldn’t have the luxury of this distinctly male entitlement. If you strip away the money and privilege, Fritz could easily have become the kind of player Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and other colleagues look back on wistfully as the talented guy they played alongside in the juniors but who, due to some unfortunate circumstances, didn’t make it. But those early challenges slowed Fritz down rather than stopped him. Since then, he’s been in a relationship with social media influencer Morgan Riddle and is taking care of his child as best he can while traveling to tournaments around the globe. And in a short time, he went from being a shadow player to the clear poster boy of American men’s tennis.

He has been in top form all year, winning tournaments in Delray Beach and Eastbourne and reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon for the first time. At the Paris Olympics, he won bronze in the doubles event with Paul. “Bringing something back to the States means everything,” he said after the win. At the US Open, Fritz took full advantage of Novak Djokovic’s exclusion from his starting lineup, scoring good wins over fourth-seeded Casper Ruud, 2020 US Open finalist Alexander Zverev and Tiafoe – but ultimately lost to Sinner, the junior tennis prodigy who famously gave up tennis for long periods to try his hand at soccer and skiing, and proved to be quite good at those, too.

Such was the interest in a possible American coronation of the tournament that deck chairs were set up outside Arthur Ashe Stadium, in front of the bank of giant screens at the south entrance, to accommodate those who couldn’t make it into the arena. But inside, it was Sinner who looked more like a purpose-built tennis machine as he softened Fritz’s powerful groundstrokes and redirected them with greater force. At times, Sinner offered his own strengths in the form of seven break points, including a slam-dunk volley that he missed by miles. But Fritz was able to capitalize on only twice – and the Italian was particularly quick to win those breaks back.

In his on-court interview after his victory, Sinner stressed that he wanted to “finish my career with no regrets.” With the four majors this year split between him and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, both in their early 20s, it seems as though tennis’s “Big Three” have made way for this “Brash Two.”

Where that leaves Fritz, 26, is harder to say. In addition to rivals Tiafoe, Paul and Sebastian Korda, the 2023 Australian Open quarterfinalist, Fritz could also be overtaken by 21-year-old Ben Shelton – a reluctant American prodigy who has quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with. On a perfect day when he can still reach Sinner’s level, this could have been Fritz’s best chance to break through.

The thought that Fritz might never get over this defeat, that he had not put on a perfect performance, shook him to the core. “I just would have liked to have played better and given myself a better chance,” he said, swallowing his emotions. “It’s really disappointing right now. I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like the fans, the American fans, have obviously wanted a men’s champion for a long time, and I, I don’t know, I’m just pretty disappointed with my performance. I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”

But we should not forget the fact that he even made it this far – an amazing achievement.