The current Australian Open champion, Jannik Sinner, the top seed and the only survivor of the three players considered title contenders at the start of the fortnight, remains in contention with his 6-2 1-6 6-1 6-4 defeat of the 2021 US Open winner, Daniil Medvedev to reach the semi-finals of the final major of the season.
We knew it was going to be physical. It was strange the first two sets because whoever made the first break then started to roll Jannik Sinner
With former champions Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz falling early and failing to make the second week, Sinner, as the top seed, is heavy favourite to add the 2024 US Open title to the one he collected in Melbourne at the start of the year when he also beat Medvedev in the final over five sets.
The Italian 23-year-old world No.1 will now go up against the world 25, Jack Draper, 22, who produced an excellent performance to defeat Australia’s world No,10, Alex de Minaur in straight sets in their quarter final encounter in what should be an intriguing contest for Draper enjoys a 1-0 lead over him although that win was achieved at Queen’s three years ago!
Sinner brought the men’s day’s schedule to a close with a bit of a topsy-turvy match with neither player maintaining a dominant position after gaining some sort of ascendancy over the other.
Sinner led the way in the first set only for Medvedev to take over and level in the second only for Sinner to regain the upper hand in the third. Both players though managed to match each other in the fourth until 3-3 when Sinner, after saving a pair of break points, broke the Russian fifth seed to surge into a 5-3 lead, claiming the semi-final place two games later.
“We played in Australia this year and then London,” Sinner, who lost to Medvedev in five sets at Wimbledon last July, said. “We knew it was going to be physical. It was strange the first two sets because whoever made the first break then started to roll.”
Medvedev had to save 10 of 15 break points while his dream of reaching his 10th grand slam semi-final was very much damaged by the 57 unforced errors he committed.
Meanwhile Sinner, who had been cleared of possible drug offences a week before Flushing Meadows, applied a more aggressive and attacking game than his opponent succeeding 28 times from 33 approaches to the net.
“We tried to work really hard on this aspect of the game,” Sinner admitted. “Trying just to mix up the game.
“I know I can improve a lot, especially going to the net. I tried to serve-and-volley a couple of times, trying to mix something in. I’m very happy with how I’ve done it today and let’s see how I can handle the next opponent.”
Jannik Sinner shakes Daniil Medvedev’s hand following his win over the Russian
(Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Sinner is the third Italian male to reach US Open semi-finals since the Open era began in 1968, joining Corrado Barazzutti (1977) and Matteo Berrettini (2019). He also became the fourth-youngest man in the Open era to reach the semi-finals at all four majors, trailing only Djokovic, Nadal and Jim Courier.
The semi-finals will be played on Friday and Sinner will be the only player in the top ten to feature in the last-four line up, the other pairing being the all-American confrontation between Frances Tiafoe (20) and Taylor Fritz (12).
