Fritz was bidding to become the first American man since 2003 to win the US Open singles title but couldn’t withstand Sinner’s power-hitting from the baseline, getting broken six times during the final.

Sinner dropped just five points behind his first serve and hit 23 winners against 21 unforced errors.

Fritz hit new milestones this fortnight, reaching a first Grand Slam semi-final and final and he feels encouraged by the fact he did well this tournament without playing his best tennis.

The immediate feeling post-final though is disappointment.

“There’s obviously a lot of positives, and when I get some time to, like, cool down then I’ll be happy about the fact that I made it to the finals and stuff like that. But right now I’m pretty just disappointed in how, like, just a lot of things on the court, how I played, how I hit certain shots. It sucks,” said the No.12 seed, who will re-enter the top 10 in the rankings on Monday.

“And I’m not saying that it necessarily would have made a difference. I don’t know if it would have, but I just would have liked to have played better and given myself a better chance. It’s really disappointing right now. I feel like the fans obviously, American fans, been wanting a men’s champion for a long time, and I just, I don’t know, I’m pretty upset with how I played. I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”