ROME -- By this time of year, most tennis players have spent so many hours in the sun they arrive at the US Open with world-class tans. In contrast, American Taylor Fritz and Italian Jannik Sinner walked into Arthur Ashe stadium looking like they had spent the summer in a root cellar. Sinner’s freckles gave him a bit of color, but every time Fritz lifted his shirttail to wipe his face, he revealed a six-pack as white as a toad’s belly. Given the gravity of the situation, neither man appeared very animated. Sinner in particular seemed like the complete opposite of many hot-blooded Italian competitors. You could call him the anti-Fabio Fognini.

  Californian Taylor Fritz kept his cool even as he was fighting to become the first American to win at Flushing Meadows in 21 years. At the other end of the court, Sinner was an iceberg. You’d never know that he tested positive for a performance enhancing drug just a month previously and received permission to play via a controversial administrative pardon. He needed a win to get out from under the shadow of that decision.

  What Fritz needed to beat the reigning world number one was to hit a high percentage of first serves. In this category he fell pathetically short. He managed just 36% of his first serves in the first set and was broken in the very first game. Although he enjoyed the home court advantage with the crowd chanting “USA, USA,” and dewy-eyed Taylor Swift cheering him on, Fritz dropped the opening stanza 6-3.

  The second set was slightly closer, but with every exchange of shots, it was driven home that Fritz lacked the foot speed to stay in baseline rallies with the relentless Sinner. Fritz tested the Italian’s forehand. He hit inside out to Sinner’s backhand. But nothing dented Sinner’s defense or his sang froid. Experts observed that Sinner had a way of smothering his opponents, chloroforming them with his consistency. After Sinner took the second set 6-4, Fritz’s coach, Michael Russell, shouted for his man to maintain his intensity. Next to Russell Sinner’s girlfriend, Morgan Riddle, rooted her fellow on with delicate hand clapping that protected her long lacquered nails. At 3 all in the third set, Fritz gave his fans reason to hope and applaud. Afterward, Coach Russell claimed, “If he wins that third, it’s a whole new ballgame.” Well, Fritz did succeed in breaking Sinner, but after that, things reverted to the same old ballgame. Sinner resumed banging winners from the baseline and prevented Fritz from serving out the third set. Sensing the inevitable, the crowd fell silent, and the only sound was Sinner’s sneakers squeaking on the Arthur Ashe hard court. The Italian won four games straight, capturing the set and the US Open title.

  With his victory, Sinner became one of the few men to win the Australian and the US Opens in the same year. Commentators gushed as they recited how many firsts he had achieved. For instance, this was the first year that none of the Big Three – Djokovic, Nadal or Federer – copped at least one Grand Slam. But one statistic went unmentioned. In 1987, Australian Pat Cash captured the Wimbledon title and became the first man to scramble into the bleachers to embrace members of his entourage. Ever since, Grand Slam champions have felt obliged to imitate Cash. Jannik Sinner who in his youth excelled at skiing down mountains, clambered up several flights of stairs to hug various coaches and kiss his girlfriend, Anna Kalinskaya. Noted by their absence were the trainer and massage therapist who were said to be responsible for contaminating Sinner with the steroid Clostebol.