Sinner wins big in wake of scandal

American drought reaches 21] years in men’s majors

- HOWARD FENDRICH

NEW YORK Jannik Sinner started slowly at the U.S. Open, dropping the first set he played after being exonerated in a doping case no one knew about until shortly before play began at Flushing Meadows.

If that episode initially hung over him during the tournament, Sinner was able to put it aside while on court.

Was he ever. The No. 1-ranked Sinner beat Taylor Fritz, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, with his typical relentless baseline game to win the men’s championship at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday, less than three weeks after word emerged of his two positive tests for a trace amount of an anabolic steroid.

Jannik Sinner earned his second major championship.

“It was, and it’s still, a little bit in my mind,” Sinner said.