World No. 1 Jannik Sinner wins US Open

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner has won his second grand slam singles title, beating American Taylor Fritz to win the US Open 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday, CNN reports.

Fritz, the world No. 12, was bidding to be the first American man to win a grand slam singles title in 21 years. Andy Roddick, who was in attendance Sunday, is the last American man to do it when he won the 2003 US Open.

The 23-year-old Sinner, on an 11-match win streak, won the Australian Open in January. He joins Flavia Pennetta, who won the women’s singles championship in 2015, as the only Italian singles champions in US Open tournament history.

“This title for me means so much because the last period of my career was really not easy,” Sinner said. “There is my team who supports me every day, the people who are close to me. I love tennis. I practice a lot for this kind of stages, but I also realize that off the court there is a life.

“I would like to dedicate this title to my aunt, because she is really not feeling well, health-wise. I don’t know how much I still have her in my life. It’s so nice that I can share a positive moment still with her. … If there would be the biggest wish, I would wish the best health to everyone, but unfortunately, it’s not possible.”

Sinner spoke more about his aunt during his post-match press conference.

“My aunt, she’s a very important person, because when my parents, they were working every day and all day, so sometimes when I had to go to ski races, I went with her,” Sinner said. “She always helped me in summertime when my parents were working and I had some days off or free days.

“You know, when you are young, you don’t go to practice every day. So I hang around a lot with her, and she’s a very important person in my life.

“This also, especially when I had this difficult time, I tried to see it in a different way, you know, sport, things can happen unfortunately, but, you know, the real life is something different.

“You know, we travel a lot, so it’s difficult to spend time with the people who you really love, but if I would have more time, for sure I would spend more time with the people I really care (about).

“Yeah, it was and is a really difficult moment also now, but, you know, just also have to accept that, yeah, not everything is perfect.”