Consider Wednesday night a reminder.

Yes, the story of this US Open tournament revolved around the American men.

Two of them, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, are playing for a place in the final and trying to end the 21-year drought that this country has endured without a man winning a Grand Slam title.

But the number 1 spot still stands, and it looks like he’s the one to beat.

When Jannik Sinner arrived in Queens, he was plagued by his doping scandal.

It didn’t distract on the pitch.

He dropped the first set he played at the Open, and only one since, to advance to the semifinals with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over 2021 US Open champion and fifth seed Daniil Medvedev at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Whichever American survives Friday will likely have to get past Sinner on Sunday.

In the other semi-final he will face No. 25 Jack Draper.

“I’m lucky that I’ve already played with these feelings, but let’s see,” said Sinner, the only semifinalist to ever win a Grand Slam. “You know, it’s going to be very interesting to see. I’m happy to be in this position and try to play great tennis.”

It was a strange game between the two highest seeded players on the men’s team.

Sinner dominated the first and third sets, Medvedev the second.

The fourth set was even until Sinner made his breakthrough. He took advantage of a loose service game from Medvedev and went 4-3 ahead when the Russian missed a forehand.

Sinner closed the game on serve, hitting an inside-out forehand winner.

“It’s tough (to play against him),” Medvedev said. “I mean, he’s one of the best players in the world, he’s the best and he deserves it. He’s a tough opponent. He has a good feel for the game. He often chooses the right shot at the right moment.”

This was already a memorable tournament for Sinner as he reached the semi-finals of the Open for the first time.

A title here would be the crowning conclusion to a fantastic season for the Italian, which began with his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and reaching the semi-finals at the French Open.

Of course, that’s not the whole story of Sinner’s year.

In the week before the last Grand Slam of the year, it was announced that traces of the anabolic steroid clostebol were detected in Sinner twice within eight days.

He was deducted prize money and ranking points.

Clostebol is the same drug that resulted in an 80-game suspension for San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr.

However, Sinner was not banned because the International Tennis Integrity Agency ruled that he was not at fault.

He fired his fitness coach, who had bought an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol in Italy, and the physiotherapist who had used it on a cut on Sinner’s finger before treating Sinner and transferring the substance to his body.

The ITIA concluded that the low doses of the drug “were due to contamination by a support team member who had applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his own skin to treat a minor wound.”

Some players, notably Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios, have questioned the handling of the case.

But there is no doubt about Sinner’s game in Queens.

“Of course it was a difficult situation at the beginning,” he said. “But it got better day by day. So I’m happy about that. Let’s see what I can achieve in the semifinals now.”