US Open men’s semi-final: Jannik Sinner v Jack Draper | US Open Tennis 2024

*Sinner 5-5 Draper (*denotes server) Sinner misses a groundstroke you don’t expect him to miss as the ball flies up into the stands. The lucky supporter waves his new souvenir to the crowd.

But the Italian goes up 30-15 and he is obviously staying away from Draper’s forehand. He knows that he is struggling with it and is trying to change the pattern. He hits his own forehand winner down the line to make it 40-15. He tries the exact same move in the next game but the ball goes well out and we are at 40-30.

Draper gets to deuce after Sinner again hits his forehand out. But the Italian takes the advantage after the Briton responds late to a forehand in a 15 shot rally.

Sinner then holds with a serve that Draper can’t return.

Sinner 4-5 Draper* (*denotes server) The crowd audibly groan when Draper misses his first serve. He seems to have the New York crowd on his side. The instructions from his coach, James Trotman, in the coaching box are clear: “Take your time. Up and back. Here we go.”

The Briton goes down 30-15 but from a Sinner return, he rips a forehand at 81 mph just inside the sideline. He manages to hold and Sinner will now serve to stay in the set.

*Sinner 4-4 Draper (*denotes server) Sinner nets after a short rally to start off this game and then hits a backhand uncharacteristically wide to give Draper a 30-0 lead. The Italian nets again after a long rally and the New York crowd cheers … Can Draper capitalise here?

At first break point, Sinner serves and the ball flies off the top of Draper’s net to make it 40-15.

At second break point, Draper hits his 10th unforced error after overhitting a shot.

At third break point, Sinner then nets a backhand. Draper made is tough for himself but he breaks and gets back on level terms.

Sinner 4-3 Draper* (*denotes server) Sinner goes 30-15 up after Draper’s first serve percentage plummets to 53%. But a spinny forehand puts him back on level terms.

Sinner then hits a backhand that is out of reach for Draper. The Italian was just far enough behind the baseline to see that Draper was planning to move up after his second serve to hit a volley and he made the split decision to fire it far.

Our first break point … and Sinner strikes first in this semi-final.

*Sinner 3-3 Draper (*denotes server) Sinner does exactly what Draper did to him in the previous game with, his aggressive groundstrokes just too much for the world No 25. He gets to 40-0 and holds after Draper hits the ball out.

Sinner 2-3 Draper* (*denotes server) Smooth from Draper here as he once again makes the world No 1 move around, hitting a crosscourt shot near the baseline before dinking a volley. The shot variation continues and the Briton holds to love.

Good start from the Briton! You would never know this is his first grand slam semi-final.

*Sinner 2-2 Draper (*denotes server) Draper struggles with a return but manages to just lunge in time to get there. It means he is off balance for the rest of the point though as he rushes to the other side of the court. He just gets the ball over but it sets Sinner up for a perfect smash to make it 30-0. Draper responds with a good winner but Sinner sees out the game after the Briton completely mistimes a drop shot.

Sinner 1-2 Draper* (*denotes server) Another double fault from Draper. Can he get these nerves out of his system? He can in this game. He comes back to make it 40-15 and manages to move Sinner around, who in the final point hits a crosscourt forehand wide to wrap up the game.

*Sinner 1-1 Draper (*denotes server) The Italian serves well and Draper’s returns are just a bit sloppy. Sinner goes up 40-30 and then slams an ace to tie it up.

Sinner 0-1 Draper* (*denotes server) Draper’s early forehand goes out at the baseline and he follows up with a double fault to go down 0-30 … Is this why Sinner opted to receive first? Who knows. But the luck goes his way after Sinner’s forehand hits the tape and bounces out. Sinner then can’t make the next return to make it 30-30. The Briton then hits an ace and is able to see out the game. That third point was so important; Sinner had Draper on the ropes initially.

Here we go! Sinner won the coin toss and opted to receive so Draper will serve first. And play …

The players are out on Arthur Ashe. Jack Draper says he will compete like “an animal” in his tunnel interview and Jannik Sinner thinks his opponent will give him a tough test and that the conditions will be “faster” due to semi-final taking part during the day session.

It has just gone 8pm BST and play has been pushed back for about 15 minutes while the players continue their final warmups.

In tennis news away from the US Open, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid are the 2024 Paralympic men’s wheelchair tennis doubles gold medallists. The pair beat the Japanese second seeds Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 on Philippe Chatrier.

Tomorrow’s women’s singles final will see last year’s runner-up Aryna Sabalenka take on the home crowd favourite Jessica Pegula. The Belarusian has reached the finals of the past four hardcourt majors and has made her presence felt at the semi-final stage or better in seven of the past eight she has competed in. Is there any way Pegula can make her presence matter on Arthur Ashe? Read below to see what Tumaini Carayol thinks.

In his bid for success in New York, Jack Draper has naturally been inspired by Emma Raducanu, who was the first qualifier in the Open Era to win a grand slam singles title.

What Emma did was obviously incredibly inspiring. I’ve known her from a young age and to see what she did was incredible. I was very proud of her, very excited, watching it thinking, obviously we’ve watched the likes of Andy Murray winning a grand slam from Great Britain, but her winning, it was just really a fairytale run. I definitely think as a competitor, it fuelled my fire. I really wanted to achieve what she’d done, winning a grand slam.

Read more on how Draper hopes to extend his run beyond the semi-finals against and his memories of facing Jannik Sinner at junior level.

How did these two get here? Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev in his quarter-final 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a turbulent tussle. Across the four sets, as the momentum swung back and forth, the combined force of Sinner’s devastating groundstrokes and defence were too much for Medvedev, who generally played below par in a match that required his very best tennis.

On the other hand, Jack Draper made light work of Alex de Minaur by winning 6-3, 7-5, 6-2. From the beginning, Draper was determined to dictate on his terms, pushing the Australian behind the baseline with his heavy topspin forehand and then searching for opportunities to dictate with it.

Preamble