World No. 1 Jannik Sinner held his own and qualified for his first US Open final on Friday, where he will experience the fervor of the immense Arthur Ashe court at its peak, pushing hard behind American Taylor Fritz.
To become the first Italian to reach the final at Flushing Meadows at the age of 23, Sinner dominated the British Jack Draper (25th) 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 at the end of a match which nevertheless lasted more than three hours.
“It was a very physical match, as you could see. I tried to hang on psychologically because he is very difficult to beat,” Sinner commented on his “good friend”, before saying he was “happy to be in the final”.
To lift the trophy, his second Grand Slam after the Australian Open in January, he will have to beat Taylor Fritz (12th) on Sunday, who beat his friend and compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Sinner is to date the player who has won the most matches on hard courts this season (34 wins for two losses and four titles), ahead of Alexander Zverev (27 wins). He is also the one who has won the most matches this year in Grand Slams with 22 wins, ahead of Carlos Alcaraz (19), who won two Majors in 2024 (Roland-Garros and Wimbledon).
– One Wrist Alert for Sinner –
After a complicated start to the tournament due to the revelation to the public and to the other players, a few days earlier, of two positive doping tests for an anabolic steroid undergone in March and for which he was cleared, the Italian player has only increased in power.
And while he didn’t play at his best against Draper, he was clearly superior in key moments, such as the second-set tie-break, and took advantage of his opponent’s physical collapse.
In the first set, each player held his serve but as soon as Draper (22 years old) was a little less effective on first serves, Sinner (23 years old) took advantage to break and lead 4-3.
An incident marked the second set, concluded in a tie-break, when at 4-4, Sinner won an extremely spectacular point during which he fell before getting up and finishing with a fantastic forehand winner. But in his fall, he hurt his left wrist.
At the change of ends, he called the physio and resumed play. Draper, who had vomited on the court just before, also called the doctor and resumed play.
The Briton then gradually lost his physical footing and ended up on his knees.
– “Focused on my service” –
In the evening, the American Taylor Fritz dominated Tiafoe in a five-set match, which was undecided for a long time as the level of the two players was so close.
Never a semi-finalist in a Grand Slam before the tournament, Fritz becomes the first American to reach the final of a Major, in the men’s category, since Andy Roddick in 2009 at Wimbledon.
“This is why I do this sport, it’s a dream come true,” Fritz said, tears in his eyes, on the court.
The Americans have not won a men’s Grand Slam since Roddick won the US Open in 2003.
Tiafoe first knew how to play the important points perfectly and seize his rare break opportunities to lead 2 sets to 1.
“He dominated me from the back of the court, took the ball very early, changed the angles, he was really on top. I concentrated on my serve, I did everything to stay in the game,” said Fritz.
“In many ways I felt like I wasn’t doing anything wrong and he was dominating me. I had to accept that, it helped me stay calm and make the right choices afterwards.”
Fritz remained patient, took advantage of a missed drop shot from his opponent to pocket the fourth set, before quickly flying away at the start of the fifth set (4-0), never to be seen again.
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