It took a lot of sweat, perhaps a few tears when his left wrist suffered the weight of his fall in the eighth game of the second set. But the Italian Jannik Sinnernumber one in the ranking, imposed his credentials to win 7-5, 7-6 (3) and 6-2 Jack Draperthe British tennis prospect, and advance to his first US Open final, which will also be the first final at Flushing Meadows for a tennis player from his country. His opponent will be Taylor Fritz, who became the first local player in 18 years to reach the decisive match after Andy Roddick did so in 2006. He achieved this after beating his compatriot Francis Tiafoe in a great match by 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-1.
Under a stifling climate, which mistreated Draper – he vomited and received medical attention when the match was about two hours old -, The right-hander won a physical battle at Arthur Ashe StadiumThe top seed played with relentless intensity, hitting 42 winners and showing few signs of discomfort after the scare.
Sinner, who reached at least the quarterfinals in all four Grand Slams The 23-year-old, who is currently active in the Australian Open and US Open, will try to improve on his perfect 5-0 record in tour-level matches in 2024, a feat accomplished by only 15 other men in the Open Era and only four still active (Djokovic, Nadal, Wawrinka). He will also be aiming to improve on his perfect 5-0 record in tour-level matches in 2024. He is also bidding to become just the fourth man to win the Australian Open and US Open titles in the same season since both events switched to hard courts in 1988. Novak Djokovic (2011, ’15, ’23) and Roger Federer (’04, ’06, ’07) have done it three times and Mats Wilander (1988) once.
This Friday, he did not have a comfortable opponent in front of him. The Briton appeared in the first semi-final of his career in a Grand Slam, after beating Alex de Minaur, becoming the fourth player born in 2000 or later to make it this far in this tournament after Felix Auger-Aliassime (2021), Carlos Alcaraz (2022) and Ben Shelton (2023) and the lowest-ranked tennis player (25th) to reach the top four in a tournament of this caliber.
Jannik Sinner’s fall that scared everyone. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
Being the first Briton to reach this stage on the American hard court since Andy Murray won the crown in 2012 encouraged him to play as equals to the best tennis player of the moment who arrived in New York embroiled in controversy over unsanctioned positive test in Indian Wells.
Played from 3pm on a hot and, above all, humid afternoon, Draper put up a very decent fight. But he soon began to suffer with errors at some key moments and, above all, with double faults: no less than six in the first set and ten at the end of the match. He was also not accurate with his serve: only 49% of points with first serve in the entire match. It was precisely a double fault that gave him the break Sinner to close out the first set in just under an hour.
The turbulent second set – in which Argentine physiotherapist Alejandro Resnicoff attended to Sinner – lasted 89 minutes, the second longest of the entire US Open this year. Once again, Sinner knew how to strike at the right moment and Draper began to run out of strength after losing the tie break.
It seemed that the Englishman’s retirement was near but Draper stayed on his feet and, although his level clearly dropped due to his physical problems, he held on until the end before seeing Sinner break at the end of the third set (4-2) and sealing his victory to go for the title in the Big Apple, against the winner of the local duel between Taylor Fritz (n.12) and Frances Tiafoe (n.20).
“Whoever goes through will be a difficult match, a great challenge. So far what has happened to me has been very positive. If you are playing every Sunday it is because you are doing your job.”he said after playing for three hours and three minutes. Regarding the duel, he said: “It was a very physical match, I tried to stay strong physically and I was able to do it. I am very happy to be in the final.”.
His rival, meanwhile, also has reason to celebrate: from Monday he will be 20th, which will make him the ninth Briton to enter the Top 20.
Later, it was the fratricidal duel between Fritz and Tiafoe. With an agonizing comeback, the San Diego tennis player won the battle between Americans against Maryland and is the first local tennis player in the men’s final of the US Open since Roddick lost to the then unbeatable Roger Federer in 2006.
Taylor Fritz can’t believe it. Photo: AP
Fritz, ranked 12th in the world, came back from two deficits to win 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 and reach his first Grand Slam final.
A win for Fritz on Sunday would be the first for American men’s tennis at the US Open since 2003, when Roddick himself won the title.