Sinner ready to crash Fritz's American party in US Open final

NEW YORK : Jannik Sinner will hope to block out a rocking home crowd on Sunday when he faces Taylor Fritz in the U.S. Open final at Flushing Meadows, where the 12th seed will be bidding to become the first American man in 21 years to win a Grand Slam singles title.

U.S. fans had become accustomed to celebrating the triumphs of American men for decades, with the likes of Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi collecting 41 slams between them from the 1970s to the early 2000s.

But since Andy Roddick won his sole major on Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2003, American men have failed to win any of the four majors.

With the barren run lasting for 82 consecutive slams, New York fans will be turning up the volume to deafening levels on Sunday as they get behind Fritz and hope he can finally snap that losing streak.

"I'm gonna accept that. I have my team and my people who are close to me," said Italian top seed Sinner. "In my mind, I know that there are many people watching from home from Italy, and it's just take some support from them."

Sinner has enjoyed an extraordinary year with a major breakthrough at the Australian Open and was in top form as he won the Cincinnati tune-up tournament last month.

But he did not get the hero's welcome a U.S. Open top seed usually enjoys when they arrive in New York, with a doping saga overshadowing his on-court exploits.

Days before the tournament began, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said that he tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March but avoided a ban when an independent tribunal accepted his claim that the positive tests were the result of an unintentional contamination.

Some players and members of the media cried foul but Sinner tuned out the