Jannik Sinner came to Flushing Meadows under the cloud of not one but two failed drug tests in March. He leaves as U.S. Open champion.

The world’s top-ranked player looked the part, beating American Taylor Fritz, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, in Sunday’s final at a partisan Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The star-studded crowd — including Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Matthew McConaughey, Usher and Elon Musk — was urging on Fritz, looking for a slice of history. This has been all-too-unfamiliar ground for U.S. men.

“This title means so much because the last period of my career was difficult. I love tennis. I practice a lot for these kind of stages,” Sinner said during the postmatch trophy ceremony, presuming alluding to what had been the looming specter of a multi-year ban after the failed drug tests.

Sunday marked the first time an American man had made a Grand Slam final since 2009 — and first here in Flushing since 2006. Fritz had been hoping for more.

“Being an American at the U.S. Open is an incredible feeling, feeling love all week,” Fritz said. “I know we’ve been waiting for a champion for a long time. I’m sorry I couldn’t get it done this week, but I’m gonna keep working and hopefully I’ll get it next time. So thank you.”

A child born the night an American man last won the U.S. Open — Andy Roddick back in 2003 — would’ve turned 21 on Sunday, legally able to drink. They could toast new champ Sinner or drown their sorrows with beaten finalist Fritz.

With Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz both gone in the first week, there seemed to be the sliver of an opportunity. And Fritz — the hard-hitting son of former tennis pros Guy Fritz and Kathy May — had won three of the five sets he’d played against Sinner, splitting their two earlier meetings.

But that was before the 23-year-old Sinner rose to No. 1, before his forehand went from being merely nasty to now as unstoppable a weapon as there is in tennis.

Sinner hits so hard that he didn’t have to take risks. He made just 21 unforced errors, while Fritz committed 34 and was just 2 of 7 on break points.

Hard court Ashe is a faster surface than Indian Wells, where Fritz pulled off his 2023 win over Sinner, who has taken his game to another level.

That, of course, was the elephant in the room. Days before the U.S. Open started, it was revealed Sinner had tested positive for a banned substance twice in March. But after a six-hour online hearing, Sinner escaped suspension due to a tribunal accepting that the substance inadvertently found its way into the Italian’s system through a since-dismissed team member.

Some players groused about how Sinner avoided suspension purely due to his top ranking. But this major title — the Italian’s second to bookend the year, after claiming the Australian Open in January — has kicked the elephant in the room right out into the hallway.

As he had in a high-profile 3-hour, 18-minute semifinal comeback against fellow American and friend Frances Tiafoe, Fritz got better as the match went on.

Whether he was emotionally drained from that breakthrough or just leggy from the long match, Fritz never moved as well Sunday and struggled in the first set. After holding to go up 3-2, he saw Sinner take the last four games to claim the set 6-3.

But Fritz started to serve better in the second set, winning 13 straight on his first serve at one point.

It was on serve at 5-4, until Sinner won a 14-shot rally to finally break and take the set.

Fritz finally found his game in the third, earning chants of “USA! USA!” from the partisan crowd. It was 3-all and he set up a double break point. He showed he had a forehand too, pumping his fist as he broke to go up 4-3.

Standing far back on the baseline, Sinner let Fritz start to take the court over. The Californian served for the set but got broken when he got pulled into the net and sent his volley into the net.

Sinner would not crack under Fritz’s pressure the way Tiafoe had. The Italian held to go up, 6-5, then set up double championship points.

He needed just the one: Fritz’s return into the net.