September 06, 2024 | 00.03
READING TIME: 3 minutes
Jannik Sinner today against Jack Draper in the semi-final at the US Open. The Italian, number 1 in the world, faces the British in the match scheduled for 9 pm Italian time at Flushing Meadows. Sinner, fresh from a 4-set victory in the quarterfinals against Russian Daniil Medvedev, is looking for a place in the final of the New York tournament. And he does so in a match that, after a series of sleepless nights for Italian fans, will be played on our first evening.
In front of her will be the 22-year-old Draper, who is playing the best tennis of his career: the Englishman defeated the Australian Alex de Minaur in 3 sets, for the first time he reaches a semifinal of a major and arrives at the challenge with the Italian without having lost a single set on the road. Regardless of today’s result, she is about to land in the top 20 of the WTA ranking.
The challenge between friends
Special detail: Draper is one of Sinner’s best friends on the circuit. It is the Italian himself who describes the relationship that binds him to the opponent, faced only once in the ATP tournaments. In the 2021 edition of Queen’s, it was Draper, in his first match as a professional, who prevailed. Since then, many things have changed. Sinner exploded, winning one victory after another, reaching the top of the rankings, which is now solid. Draper, after a 2023 conditioned by physical problems, has taken flight, leaving injuries and doubts behind.
“We know each other well, it will be an interesting match. I don’t remember any matches at junior level, we used to meet but we weren’t friends yet. It’s nice to see how far we’ve come as players and as people. On the tour we’ve only played at Queen’s,” says Sinner.
How will the match be?
“It will be a difficult match, Jack is playing at a very high level: he serves very well, he hits the ball perfectly. He is playing the best tennis of his career, it will be tough. He is a complete player, he has an excellent serve and relies a lot on serve and volley, he moves great. It will be a complicated match for both”, reiterates the Italian, outlining a possible tactical theme of the challenge.
Against Medvedev, the South Tyrolean went to the net 33 times to demolish the opponent’s wall
. Against Draper, who relies on serve and volley frequently, it will be essential for the Italian to keep up the pace, contain his rival’s aggression and break him with groundstrokes.
No clear memories of the comparisons as a child: “I wasn’t that good at junior level anyway. I remember watching him from the outside. Left-handed players are rarer, his way of hitting the ball was always excellent. We met on the circuit, we send each other messages in good times and bad. It’s a great friendship, we’ll put it aside for a while during the match. Then we’ll shake hands and everything will go back to normal.”
The semi-final live on TV and streaming
The US Open is broadcast on SuperTennis and Sky Sport. SuperTennis (channel 212 on Sky, channel 64 on digital terrestrial, streaming on SuperTenniX) will broadcast the tournament live on free-to-air TV, in simulcast with Sky and Now.
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