American Taylor Fritz faced world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the men’s final on Sunday but was defeated. In the women’s final on Saturday, Jessica Pegula, seeded sixth, lost to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who is ranked second.
The presence of American players in both singles finals contributed to an 8 percent increase in attendance from last year’s record of 832,640 fans, according to the USTA.Among those spotted at the men’s final were Taylor Swift, her boyfriend Travis Kelce, and his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes.
Fritz, seeded 12th, became the first American man to reach the final of the US Open since Andy Roddick was the runner-up in 2006.
He was also the first American to reach the final of any major since Roddick competed in the 2009 Wimbledon championship match.
Fritz expressed disappointment after his straight-sets defeat, stating, “I feel like the fans obviously, American fans, been wanting a men’s champion for a long time, and … I’m pretty upset with how I played. I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like I almost let a lot of people down.”
The 2024 U.S. Open sported a record $75 million prize pool. Both Sabalenka and Sinner earned $3.6 million for their respective titles.
