NEW YORK (AP) — Leader Jannik Sinner used an aggressive, net-storming style to US Open reached the semifinals for the first time by defeating 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday night.
Sinner – a 23-year-old Italian who was cleared of a doping case less than a week before the start of the US Open after testing positive twice for traces of an anabolic steroid in March – will face Briton (No. 25) Jack Draper on Friday for a place in the title match.
After Elimination of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in week 1Sinner took the lead as title favorite and is now the only man in the field still holding a Grand Slam trophy. He claimed his first victory in January at the Australian Open, beating Medvedev in the final in five sets after losing the first two.
As the extremely precise result shows, this duel was unusually turbulent, as the two players took turns dominating one set after the other.
At first, Sinner was the dominant player. Then Medvedev took over that role, finishing second to Djokovic at Flushing Meadows last year and Rafael Nadal in 2019. Then Sinner regained the upper hand in the third set. In the fourth set, at 3-3, Sinner fought back, fending off two break points and then breaking Medvedev to take a 5-3 lead.
“We know each other pretty well. … We knew it was going to be very physical,” said Sinner, who lost to Medvedev in five sets at Wimbledon in July. “The first two sets were strange because whoever got the first break then got going.”
The key: Sinner won the point on 28 of his 33 attempts to the net, including 9 of 11 serve-and-volley attempts.
“We’ve worked really hard on that aspect of the game,” Sinner said. “We’ve just tried to add more variety to the game.”
Medvedev was particularly inconsistent. He had just one winner less than Sinner, but made 19 more unforced errors.
The other semi-final on Friday will take place No. 12 Taylor Fritz vs. No. 20 Frances Tiafoe in the first all-American men’s clash at this stage of a major in 19 years.
The women’s semifinals on Thursday evening are Jessica Pegula against Karolina Muchova and Aryna Sabalenka against Emma Navarro. Pegula defeated No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6:2, 6:4 on Wednesday.
Draper, 22, reached his first Grand Slam semi-final – and became the first Briton to get that far at the US Open since Andy Murray won the trophy in 2012 – by overwhelming No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.
Draper has won all 15 sets he has played so far, but it will be more difficult against Sinner.
“This isn’t something that happens overnight for me. I believed for a long time that I did the work and did the right things and I knew my time would come,” said Draper, whose right thigh was taped by a trainer after feeling something at the end of the first set. “I didn’t know when it would be, but hopefully I can do a lot of great things from here. I’m very proud of myself.”
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