US Open men’s semi-final: Jannik Sinner v Jack Draper
Important events
How did these two get here? Jannik Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev in his quarterfinal 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a turbulent battle. In the four sets, as the momentum swung back and forth, the combined power of Sinner’s devastating groundstrokes and defense proved too much for Medvedev, who generally underperformed 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 outset, Draper was determined to dictate on his terms, pushing the Australian behind the baseline with his heavy topspin forehand and then looking for opportunities to dictate with it.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to our live blog of the first men’s singles semi-final at the 2024 US Open between Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper.
Sinner has reached three Grand Slam semi-finals in 2024, winning the title in Melbourne at the start of the year and losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the last four at Roland Garros. The world No. 1 is in top form having won the most recent Masters 1000 event, the Cincinnati Open, and has recorded 10 or more wins over top 10 players in consecutive seasons.
This is Draper’s debut in a Grand Slam semi-final. The world number 25 has failed to progress beyond the fourth round of a major, but the Briton is having a breakthrough year, winning his first ATP title in Stuttgart and reaching the final in Adelaide. Draper has reached this stage at Flushing Meadows without dropping a set, the first man to do so since 2020. He is also the first Briton to reach the men’s singles semi-finals since Andy Murray in 2012.
This will be the second tour-level meeting between the two. The last and only tour-level meeting between the two came at the 2021 Cinch Championships, where a 19-year-old Draper defeated then world number 23 Sinner 7-6 (6), 7-6 (2).
With American duo Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz in the other semi-final, a new champion will be crowned in New York on Sunday. Sinner defeated the last former champion in the competition, 2021 winner Daniil Medvedev, in the previous round.
Join me for what will undoubtedly be an intriguing battle on Arthur Ashe. And if you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, predictions, theories, or secrets you’d like to share, please email me. You can find all the information at the top of this blog.
The match is scheduled for 20:00 BST/15:00 EST.