NEW YORK — Number one Jannik Sinner achieved a 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over Jack Draper to reach his first final at the US Open — and second at a Grand Slam tournament this year — after being treated simultaneously by trainers on a humid Friday afternoon.
Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy who was acquitted in a doping case Less than a week before the tournament began, his left wrist needed a massage during a changeover after he fell during a point he won late in the second set. During the same break in the action, the 25th-seeded Draper, a 22-year-old from Great Britain, received medical attention after vomiting twice on the court between points.
As both competitors were watched, a vacuum cleaner was used to clean the green behind the baseline where Draper had vomited, finishing the cleanup job he had attempted by wiping the court with a towel. It was an unusual scene, to say the least, at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where temperatures were in the high 70s and humidity was above 60 percent.
Sinner won the Australian Open in January and will be seeking his second major championship on Sunday against No. 12 Taylor Fritz or No. 20 Frances Tiafoe.
“Whoever it is,” Sinner said, “it’s going to be a very tough challenge for me.”
Good friends Fritz and Tiafoe were scheduled to play in the other men’s semifinal on Friday night, the first in New York between two Americans in 19 years. One of them would become the first American man to appear in a Grand Slam title match since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009 — and if either of them beat Sinner, it would give the United States its first major trophy for a men since Roddick triumphed in New York in 2003.
The women’s final on Saturday will also feature an American, with No. 6 Jessica Pegula takes on No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
The longer it took for Sinner and Draper – who are friends and played doubles together in an event in August – to face each other, the more it turned out in the Italian’s favour.
He is the purest ball-striker currently in the men’s game, and while Draper’s left-handed power and good hands – whether following his serves to the net or simply finding other moments to hit volleys, he won 22 of the 34 points he went forward with – made some progress, Sinner got better and better the longer the exchanges went on.
Sinner took the point after 50 of the 80 strokes that lasted nine or more strokes.
Draper is a talented player and hadn’t lost a set in the past two weeks until Friday, but his biggest problem as a pro was his body, and that was it again today. The weather certainly didn’t help. And neither did the tension of making his Grand Slam semi-final debut. And neither did Sinner’s tirelessness.
The collection of empty water bottles continued to grow by Draper’s sideline chair as he tried to hydrate. He also asked for a can of soda in the third set. By the time it arrived, nothing could slow Sinner, who improved his hardcourt record to 34-2 in 2024.
Last month the rumor came out that Sinner in March, he took two drug tests eight days apart but was acquitted after saying traces of an anabolic steroid had inadvertently entered his system through a massage from a team member he has since fired.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
