(September 6, 2024) FLUSHING, NY – World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy has reached his first US Open final on Friday when he defeated lefty Jack Draper of Great Britain 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Friday afternoon. He is a win away from winning his second major of the year. He won the Australian Open in January.
He is the first Italian man in the Open Era to be in two major finals.
He’ll play the winner of the night match between Americans [12] Taylor Fritz and [20] Frances Tiafoe on Sunday afternoon.
The three-hour and three-minute match saw the 23-year-old Sinner hit 11 aces and hit a total of 43 winners. He has leveled his record against the Brit to 1-1. The last and only other time they played was in 2021, when Draper beat Sinner.
In the first set, Sinner produced the first break to go up 4-3, but the 22-year-old Draper returned the favor in the next game for 4-4. Sinner broke serve in the eleventh game to go up 6-5 and held to close the set 7-5.
The second set was complicated for both players, Sinner injured his left wrist on a point and Draper threw up on the court a couple of times. Both men had medical visits at the same time. The set ended in a tiebreaker, but one could see that Draper was tired.
In the third set, a tired Draper won a mere 17 points to Sinner’s 31. The Italian broke the Brit’s serve twice to end the match.
Draper had a career tournament. Reaching the semifinals will move him up to No. 20 in the world.
More to follow…..
