Sinner, Pegula, Draper… what to remember from the night in New York

The shock

The boss is Sinner. The world number 1 tamed the outgoing finalist Daniil Medvedev without trembling (6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4) in 2h39 and will face the surprise Jack Draper in the last four. Author of 57 unforced errors in total, with a lack of first serves (56% success and only 67% points behind), the Russian came up a bit short in a clash that did not really happen for their Grand Slam beauty this season. The two previous duels had been real clashes in 5 sets. Not this time. Sinner had won the final of the Australian Open, then Medvedev had taken his revenge in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. “It was tough, we know each other well. The first three sets were strange, with fast breaks”summed up Sinner, more than ever the big favorite of the tournament after the early eliminations of Alcaraz (2^e tour) et Djokovic (3^e tour).

The feeling

Polish world number one Iga Swiatek was swept away by Jessica Pegula, winner at Flushing Meadows in 2022 and four-time Roland-Garros champion, the Polish player made a number of unforced errors (41 in 18 games played, compared to 22 for Pegula) and will only win one Grand Slam this year (Roland-Garros).

At the state

Jessica Pegula, world number 6, has finally broken her glass ceiling. She had thus had six failures in the quarter finals of a Major tournament. “Finally I can say that I am a semi-finalist!”the thirty-year-old rejoiced in the heat of the moment. Better late than never…

The number

Pegula’s victory over Swiatek allows the Americans to count four semi-finalists in their Grand Slam tournament (Fritz and Tiafoe in the men’s, Navarro and Pegula in the women’s). A first in a Grand Slam in 21 years! Navarro, a novice at this level, is facing Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka this Thursday. Pegula will meet Karolina Muchova (52nd) in the semi-final on Thursday, who defeated Brazilian Beatriz Haddad (21st) 6-1, 6-4. Fritz and Tiafoe will face each other on Friday in an all-US clash. American men’s tennis has not experienced victory in a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick, right here in New York, 21 years ago.

The sentence

“I’ve had injuries, failures, moments where I thought about quitting, where I wondered if I was cut out for this sport, if I was really good enough. Those are tough times, you know. That [quart de finale de Grand Chelem] is not a difficult moment compared to this. Ultimately, I am not afraid to be in these positions,” said Jack Draper, who defeated the world number 10 player (6-3, 7-5, 6-2). A novice at this level in the Grand Slam, the left-handed Jack Draper has not conceded a single set since the start of the tournament. At 22, he is the fourth British player to reach the semi-finals of the men’s draw in New York in the Open era (1968) after Greg Rusedski (1997), Tim Henman (2004) and Andy Murray (2008, 2011, 2012).

L’info

Daniil Medvedev’s elimination in the quarter-finals ensures that Alexander Zverev will be world No. 2 when the next ATP rankings are published. A career-best ranking for the German. A small consolation for the Hamburg native, who was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Taylor Fritz, missing out on yet another opportunity to win a new Grand Slam title.

The French woman

11^e semi-final in a Major for Kristina Mladenovic. The Northerner and the Chinese Zhang Shuai won (7-5, 4-6, 6-3) in the semi-finals against Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, seeds 3, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday. The 31-year-old Frenchwoman thus reaches her 11th Grand Slam final in women’s doubles. Mladenovic and Zhang will face the seeds 7, the Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok and the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. Mladenovic, former world number 1 in the specialty is looking for a first title in New York, she who has already won six Majors.

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