Jannik Sinner in the final at the US Open 2024. The Italian, number 1 in the world, beats the Englishman Jack Draper in the semifinals today 7 Septemberseeded number 5, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in 3h02′. The 23-year-old from Alto Adige, in the final for the first time in New York and the first Italian to play for the title in the American Slam, is hunting for the sixth triumph of the year and the sixteenth of his career. He will face the American Taylor Fritz, seeded number 12, who won the derby with his compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in 3h18′.
In the semifinals, Sinner, in the Flushing Meadows sauna, confirms his solidity even on a day marked by a few lapses. The best player in the world makes more mistakes than usual (34 unforced errors) but has the merit of conceding very little to his opponent-friend in key moments. Draper, who reached the semifinals without giving up a set, suffers from the heat and humidity: he vomits several times but manages to play on par for 2 sets, holding his own even when the exchange gets longer. The Englishman, however, runs into a bad day on serve (10 double faults) and after almost 3 hours his tank is empty: white flag, Sinner plays for the title on Sunday.
What Sinner said
“Draper and I are very good friends, it was a very physical match, I tried to stay in the match mentally. It was a special occasion against a difficult opponent to beat and now I’m happy to play the final”, Sinner said immediately after the match. “Sunday will be a difficult match for me, it’s the second final of the season in a Slam, we continue to try to improve: every time you play a final it means you’ve worked well”, he added.
During the second set, a fall put his left wrist at risk. “My wrist is fine, after the fall it hurt a lot,” he told Sky Sport. “Falling on cement is not the best. I felt the pain, but then it passed with the adrenaline of the match. I’m quite calm ahead of the final. Do I feel the pressure? Of course, I feel it, I feel it… But having the pressure in a tournament like this is a privilege.”
The match
Balance reigns until the seventh game. Sinner raises the pace, Draper goes off the rails: the Englishman makes a mistake and gives up his serve. The Italian’s breakaway, however, does not materialize. The number 1 runs into an unpredictable lapse: he gives up his serve to love (4-4) and the score is back to parity after a couple of jolts. In the eleventh game, there is the best and the worst of Draper. Two aces to stay afloat but above all 3 double faults that allow Sinner to take advantage of the third break point and put the arrow (6-5). This time the South Tyrolean secures the break and closes the first set: 7-5 in 57′.
The Englishman feels the blow and stumbles at the start of the second set: Sinner is immediately offered 2 break points but fails to find the winning solution, Draper gets out of the quicksand and avoids complicating his life right away. The Italian also stutters, giving away a chance for the break with a double fault and he also ends up getting away with it (1-1) at the end of two laborious games that last a total of 20 minutes.
Sutton’s left-hander repeatedly flirts with trouble: a break point conceded in the third game, another in the fifth. Luckily for him, Sinner doesn’t find the decisive shot and doesn’t split the set in two. Draper suffers from the heat, is upset, but doesn’t give up and the epilogue of the set is delegated to the tie-break, which is a no-brainer. The Italian, who doesn’t seem to be affected by the wrist problem he suffered after a spectacular and incredible point, ends up breaking through against a reserve opponent in the ninth game: archives the 7-3 and takes the lead 2 sets to nil after 2h25′.
Draper tries to stay hooked to the match like a boxer who staggers. Sinner goes straight, sees the right gap in the sixth game and exploits it: break, 4-2 and escape to 6-2 that is worth the victory and the qualification to the final.
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