With a series of composed performances, Draper broke new ground in New York and advanced to the semifinals without losing a set.

Although he played coolly and calmly, it remained questionable how the left-hander would fare against an opponent of Sinner’s class.

Draper’s first four opponents were ranked below him – and he avoided meeting Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz in the third round after the French Open and Wimbledon champion suffered a surprise second-round loss.

Quarterfinal opponent Alex de Minaur, seeded 10th, also had to contend with fitness problems.

In the early exchanges of the semi-final, Draper put pressure on Sinner – who appears to have put the controversy surrounding his positive drugs test earlier this year behind him – but three double faults proved costly as the Italian made the decisive break to make it 6-5.

Then the tension rose for Draper in a bizarre second set.

Although he was clearly struggling, he held on to his serve despite four break chances for Sinner before retiring ill after two points on the court.

In a crazy ninth game, play had to be stopped briefly due to his vomit while the court was cleaned. The 23-year-old Sinner then fell while retrieving a return near the advertising boards behind the baseline and injured his left wrist.

Both men had to be treated at the same time – a rare sight.

Sinner upped the ante in the tiebreak, forcing Draper behind the baseline with heavy groundstrokes and making errors to take a two-set lead.

The difficult task ahead for Draper – watched by his family, including his mother Nicky, whose plane from London landed in New York at 2 a.m. on Friday – seemed insurmountable.

Draper showed the resilience needed to keep fighting against the best player in the world and refused to give up, as he had to do several times earlier in his career.

But his resolve finally wavered as Sinner downplayed the final four games to secure victory in three hours and three minutes.

“Jannik plays at such a high level all the time. I had chances here and there and didn’t take advantage of them,” said Draper.

“I obviously didn’t feel particularly good and struggled at certain stages of the game, but Jannik beat me fair and square.”