"So much fun watching two Americans in the finals"- Mikaela Shiffrin backs Taylor Fritz as he loses to Jannik Sinner in the US Open finals

Mikaela Shiffrin extended her support towards American tennis player Taylor Fritz, who fell short of securing the US Open 2024 title after losing to Jannik Sinner. The alpine skier attended the tournament finals on September 8 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The US Open 2024 came to an end yesterday after Sinner dominated the finals. He bested Fritz in the match that lasted for 2 hours and 15 minutes, with a score line of 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. The latter's loss continued the title drought for American men that has been ongoing for the last 21 years. The last American player to win the men's singles slam title was Andy Roddick in 2003.

Mikaela Shiffrin, who was in the spectators' stand during the finals, extended his support towards Fritz on her Instagram story and also gave a shoutout to another American, Jessica Pegula, for reaching the women's singles final at the US Open. The skier shared a video of the stadium, showcasing scenes after the completion of the match, and wrote:

"Congratulations, @taylor_fritz, for making it to the Final! So much fun to watch two Americans in the finals this weekend."

Mikaela Shiffrin's story - Instagram

Ahead of this, she added another video to her story, congratulating the Italian for his victory at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. She wrote:

"But seriously, what an amazing men's @uspone final! Congrats, @janniksin!"

This isn't the first time Shiffrin was swayed by tennis; she also spoke about getting influenced by Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek once.

Mikaela Shiffrin opened up about being inspired by Iga Swiatek

In an interview with CNN Sports, Mikaela Shiffrin earlier opened up about the importance of athletes from various sports connecting. She emphasized the fact that all athletes relate to each other, citing the struggles of growing as an athlete.

She added that she was inspired by Iga Swiatek after the latter's win at the French Open. As quoted by CNN Sports, she said:

"Any time an athlete from another sport recognizes an athlete from a different sport, I think that’s really cool because it just brings more connection into the world of sports and it’s not one sport against each other," said Shiffrin. "We’re all athletes and we get how hard it is to get to the top in our own sport and for every other athlete out there.”

She added:

"I watched her at the French Open and have been kind of keeping tabs ever since. And of course, I went straight to her Instagram page and I was stalking all of her workouts. I’m like, well, maybe I should do that."

Reflecting on Swiatek's hard work, the 29-year-old further stated:

"It’s just how fulfilled she’s making herself and doing the sport and working as hard as she does. And just that’s the most important thing. I hope she’s able to kind of hold on to that. And she seems like she already has that attitude. But it’s tough to keep that going, especially when you’re already starting to have success."

Mikaela Shiffrin will next be seen competing at the Alpine Ski World Cup, which is scheduled to start on the 26th of October in Soelden.