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Preview: Fritz, Tiafoe’s all-American SF, can Draper upset Sinner at US Open?

  • Posted: Sep 05, 2024

No American has reached the men’s singles final at the US Open since 2006. On Friday, Taylor Fritz or Frances Tiafoe will end that drought in New York.

The two players will step out onto Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of their home fans for an intriguing semi-final clash at the hard-court major. As well as a matchup between Fritz’s serve-dominated game and Tiafoe’s ability to redirect an opponent’s power to his advantage, it will also be a duel between two close friends that have played a major role in the resurgence of American men’s tennis in recent years.

“Taylor and I had a conversation about being No. 1, No. 2 Americans for a very long time,” said Tiafoe ahead of the first all-American Grand Slam semi-final since Andre Agassi defeated Robby Ginepri in 2005. “I remember we were sitting on a plane some years ago, and he’s a pretty to-himself kind of dude, and he’s, like, ‘Bro, I think me and you are going to be one, two Americans and leading the way.”

Competing at the US Open as the leading American in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fritz has expertly handled the pressure so far this fortnight as he bids to become the first home men’s singles champion since Andy Roddick in 2003. The 26-year-old has dropped just two sets across his five matches so far, eliminating Matteo Berrettini, Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev in the process.

After losing his first four major quarter-finals, the way Fritz held his nerve to overcome Zverev in four sets to reach his maiden semi-final was particularly impressive. However, the eight-time ATP Tour champion has no intention of resting on his laurels.

“The emotional level is down,” said Fritz. “It’s cool I’m in the semis, but I very much have the mindset of ‘The job’s not done’, and I keep taking it one match at a time like I’ve been all tournament and focus on the next match ahead of me.”

Fritz enters the clash with history on his side. The 12th seed holds a 6-1 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Tiafoe, a tally which includes victory in the pair’s only Grand Slam meeting at the 2022 Australian Open. Yet Tiafoe, who reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final in Cincinnati earlier this month, believes past encounters will have little bearing on Friday’s clash in New York.

“It’s different on Ashe, man,” said Tiafoe, who also reached the US Open semi-finals in 2022. “It’s different. Obviously you have to learn from those [defeats]. I mean, couple of those I thought I actually should have won. He’s tough, man. He’s a tough player. He plays great from both sides, has a great serve, he’s moving much better now. It’s going to be tough.”

As well as becoming the first American men’s singles finalist since Roddick in 2006, whoever triumphs in Friday’s semi-final will also significantly boost their hopes of reaching the Nitto ATP Finals. Currently seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, Fritz would rise to fourth by reaching the championship match. Tiafoe, who has never qualified for the prestigious season finale, will rise from 14th to 10th in the Live Race if he can defeat Fritz.

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Sinner Eyes Revenge Against Red-hot Draper
After years beset with injury struggles, has Jack Draper’s big-stage moment finally arrived?

The Briton has stormed to his maiden major semi-final without dropping a set this fortnight at the US Open, where World No. 1 Jannik Sinner stands in his way in the last four. For the 22-year-old Draper, a junior rival and friend of Sinner’s, his breakout major run in New York has come as a reward for years of perseverance.

“I’ve had times when I’ve maybe thought to stop or, ‘Am I cut out for this sport? Am I really good enough?’ And all this sort of stuff,” reflected Draper, who won his maiden ATP Tour title in June in Stuttgart, after easing past Alex de Minaur in straight sets in the quarter-finals. “I kept on believing in myself, kept on working.

“Those are hard moments. This is not a hard moment compared to that. This is a privilege, and this is an honour to be in this position. This is why I work so hard, so I’ve got to just keep it going in my stride. I’m not afraid of being in these positions.”

So can Draper maintain his impressive form to upset the World No. 1 and become the first British men’s singles US Open finalist since Andy Murray lifted the trophy in 2012? The lefty, who has already guaranteed he will crack the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings next Monday with his New York run, triumphed in his only previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Sinner at the Queen’s Club in 2021.

Even prior to that meeting on the London grass, Sinner was familiar with Draper’s game. The Italian recalls seeing the Briton compete as a junior, and he knows he may have to adapt to the unique challenge that his opponent’s big-serving, heavy-hitting lefty game poses.

“I don’t remember playing against him… But I do remember seeing him from outside,” said Sinner of Draper after defeating Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals. “Obviously lefty, it’s also tough to see, as there are fewer lefties than righties. You know, his ball striking was always very, very good.

“It’s going to be a tough match. He hasn’t lost one set yet. He’s playing great. He’s serving great. I saw also the match today, he’s hitting very, very strong. So it’s going to be tough match but I’m looking forward to it and hopefully it’s going to be a good match.”

By beating Medvedev in New York, Sinner completed the set of reaching the semi-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments. The Australian Open champion clearly holds the advantage over his last-four opponent Draper in terms of experience at the tail end of Grand Slams, but he will be wary of the Briton’s weapons in what will be one of the most high-powered matchups of the Grand Slam season.

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Medvedev on Sinner defeat: ‘I got lost in my misses’

  • Posted: Sep 05, 2024

Daniil Medvedev was dissatisfied and disheartened by his quarter-final exit at the hands of Jannik Sinner on Wednesday evening at the US Open. Yet in trademark fashion for one of the ATP Tour’s master tacticians, it did not take long for the World No. 5 to form a detailed assessment of his four-set defeat.

“[It’s a] tough loss,” said Medvedev after Sinner’s 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 triumph in New York. “I am definitely not happy with the way I played in general, because there were some very good moments and some not so good. So in general it’s a tough feeling when you come out, and at the end it’s rare that I get tight, but in the end I got super tight.

“When I was missing, I didn’t feel why I was missing, so I couldn’t correct it, and then I got super tight at the end, and it was even tougher. Not an easy feeling, not happy with myself, but that’s tennis, it’s okay. I lost. I go home.”

After dropping the opening set, Medvedev eased to the second in a topsy-turvy encounter inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. He was unable to maintain that momentum, however, and was ultimately defeated in four sets as Sinner avenged his five-set defeat in the pair’s Wimbledon quarter-final two months ago.

“The first set was horrible for me. I think almost even probably worse than the third one,” reflected Medvedev. “I managed to solve a lot of problems in the second set. Played better. Same in the fourth set, like I managed to start solving some problems that I had in the third set. So those are the positive things.”

Medvedev arrived in New York off the back of three straight defeats at the Paris Olympics, in Montreal and Cincinnati, respectively. He put that slump in form behind him by dropping just one set across his first four rounds at the US Open, but acknowledged he still didn’t feel like he had completely settled into the North American hard-court swing.

“A theory I have is that here I saw it in practice, the week before the tournament,” said Medvedev. “The balls, the courts, not easy. It was the same in Montreal, Cincinnati, it’s not super easy to control them. So sometimes you feel like you’re doing all good and then you miss and then you have question marks.

“But before I played maybe I was more like confident with myself that I will win this match even if I miss some shots. So maybe today I was going for a little bit more risky shots, I was missing just a bit more. One moment I kind of got lost in my misses. Maybe it was the same for him a little bit, because I still managed to many times put him in trouble even if it was not enough.”

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With his latest win against Medvedev, Sinner continued to eat away at his rival’s lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Medvedev at one point led the Italian 6-0, but Sinner has since won six of seven meetings between the pair to cut the deficit to 6-7.

“Lately it has been a tough one for me, but at the same time, honestly today, comparing to some matches I played with him last year when he started to beat me, I felt like I was doing the right things,” said Medvedev when asked about his matchup with Sinner. “I just didn’t manage to execute them well. I feel like the match itself, he was doing the right thing and I was doing the right thing.

“So I feel like we both come out of this match thinking, ‘Okay, now I feel what he does’. Well, the only thing is that I lost, and he won. So he will be feeling better. To have big rivalries like this always pushes me to be better, and sometimes I lose; sometimes I win. I will try to be better next time, and that’s the only thing I can do.”

Although Medvedev’s wait for his second major title after his 2021 US Open triumph goes on, his quarter-final run in New York has had a positive short-term impact when it comes to his hopes of competing at the Nitto ATP Finals for the sixth consecutive year. The 28-year-old has consolidated fourth place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, with Taylor Fritz the only player remaining in the draw able to leapfrog him during the US Open.

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Sinner shakes off Medvedev, reaches US Open SFs

  • Posted: Sep 05, 2024

Jannik Sinner survived a series of unpredictable momentum shifts Wednesday at the US Open, where the top seed defeated 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach his third major semi-final of the season.

This year’s Australian Open champion, who holds a tour-leading 21 match wins at majors this season, has now reached the semi-finals at all four Grand Slam events. The 23-year-old is the first man born in the 1990s or 2000s to achieve that feat and first Italian man in the Open Era.

Sinner produced a great variety of tactics en route to a two-hour, 39-minute win. It was a chess match as much as a tug of war from the baseline. The 15-time tour-level titlist contested Medvedev’s deep return position with serve-and-volleys, drop shots and firepower directed to every corner of the court. The longer the rally, the harder Sinner pummeled the ball.

“It was very tough, we know each other quite well,” said Sinner, who committed 38 unforced errors to Medvedev’s 57. “We played in Australia this year and then London. We knew it was going to be very physical. It was strange the first two sets because whoever made the first break then started to roll.”

Active players to reach the semi-finals at all four majors

Player Set Completed
Novak Djokovic 2008 Australian Open
Rafael Nadal 2008 US Open
Marin Cilic 2022 Roland Garros
Jannik Sinner 2024 US Open

The winner of the first three sets raced to a double-break advantage and kept their foot down on the pedal. Medvedev polished his baseline game after 15 unforced errors in the opening set, during which Sinner dropped just one point behind first serve in a red-hot start inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Fifth seed Medvedev began to skillfully absorb Sinner’s firepower and play more aggressive on second-serve returns to tally five consecutive games and soon after capture the second set. But if you blinked, you would have missed the next change of momentum. Sinner reeled off the first five games of the third set and pulled within one set of victory.

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Sinner crucially saved two break points at 2-3 in the fourth set, one fended off with a booming serve plus-one combination. Medvedev will rue his second break chance that game, during which he took a big swing at a backhand volley, sending the ball wide. Sinner earned a decisive break the ensuing game and later converted his second match point on his own serve.

Improving upon his 2022 quarter-final appearance in New York, Sinner showed quick speed as he moved forward and converted 28 of his 33 net points.

“We tried to work really hard on this aspect of the game. I know I can improve a lot, especially going to the net,” Sinner said. “I tried to serve-and-volley a couple of times, trying to mix something in. I’m very happy with how I’ve done it today and let’s see how I can handle the next opponent.”

The World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings improved to 6-7 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Medvedev after trailing 0-6 early in the rivalry. Sinner then won five straight, including a memorable two-sets-to-love comeback in this year’s Australian Open final. Medvedev beat Sinner in a five-set Wimbledon quarter-final two months ago.

The lone major champion remaining in the draw, Sinner will face 25th seed Jack Draper in the last four. The Briton won their lone Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, which doubled as the lefty’s first tour-level match win, in 2021 at the ATP 500 at The Queen’s Club. Sinner was then ranked World No. 23 and Draper was No. 309. Now they will go toe to toe on one of the biggest stages in tennis.

Sinner, 53-5 on the season, is the third Italian man to reach the Flushing Meadows semi-finals in the Open Era (Corrado Barazzutti in 1977 and Matteo Berrettini in 2019). He is on a nine-match winning streak, having arrived at the season’s final major following his triumph in Cincinnati.

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Draper: 'I've had times when I've thought I'm not cut out for this sport'

  • Posted: Sep 05, 2024

Jack Draper came bursting onto the scene in 2022 and looked poised to quickly rise to the top of the sport. But the 22-year-old has had to remain patient, overcome adversity and work hard to reach Wednesday’s breakthrough moment at the US Open, where Draper advanced to his first major semi-final.

“This is not an overnight thing for me. I’ve believed for a long time that I’ve been putting in the work and doing the right things, and I knew that my time would come,” Draper said in his post-match press conference. “I didn’t know when it would be, but hopefully from here I can do a lot of amazing things. I’m very proud of myself.

“I’ve had times when I’ve maybe thought to stop or, ‘Am I cut out for this sport? Am I really good enough?’ And all these sorts of stuff.

“I kept on believing in myself, kept on working. Those are hard moments. This is not a hard moment compared to that. This is a privilege, and this is an honour to be in this position. This is why I work so hard, so I’ve got to just keep it going in my stride. I’m not afraid of being in these positions.”

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Throughout Draper’s young career, injuries have routinely hindered the Briton’s progress. Even in his 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 quarter-final victory against Alex de Minaur, Draper encountered a brief injury scare. He began stretching out his right leg, which was wrapped by the physio at 2-1 in the second set, but it did not hamper Draper’s march to victory.

The past few months, Draper has been enjoying the form of his life, claiming his maiden tour-level title in Stuttgart and now into the last four at Flushing Meadows. Regardless of what happens in his semi-final, Draper’s dream run has already ensured the lefty will rise to a career-high in Monday’s PIF ATP Rankings.

“I’ve been working so hard for such a long time now. I’d say last year was a real turning point for me, kind of when I had my injury setbacks and taking a lot of time off over the summer because of my shoulder injury,” said Draper, No. 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

“I had to sort of watch all these young, amazing players winning amazing tournaments. I’m playing on the biggest stage in the world and I felt like I just wasn’t doing enough to get to that point myself.”

Now, the 25th seed is in the spotlight himself. Draper is the only player to not drop a set this fortnight.

“I think coming here this week, I’ve been feeling like a more complete player,” Draper said. “Physically, I’ve always — maybe in the past, worried a little bit about playing five sets and mentally and emotionally it being too much for me, just thinking, ‘Am I good enough to sort of play these best players in the world in best-of-five sets and stuff?’

“I still feel like I have so much left in my locker, I’m not worrying about if it goes longer, if it goes for a long time. It gives me a lot of peace of mind knowing that my body feels good or robust and I’m ready to go the distance if I need to. I feel really strong out there, so that’s something that’s really improved for me.”

Draper’s coach, James Trotman, added that the Sutton native’s physical improvements have been a key to his charge’s recent success.

“Jack has played some really high level tennis matches in the past, but physically it’s been a struggle,” Trotman said. “He’s a big boy, he’s got a big body. It takes time to grow into that. He’s had a lot of injuries and a lot of setbacks, so you’re not banking that consistent work.”

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Despite defeat, De Minaur 'going to stick with the positives'

  • Posted: Sep 05, 2024

If Alex de Minaur was asked prior to the US Open if he would be satisfied with a quarter-final run, the answer likely would have been, ‘Yes’.

Though the 10th seed suffered a straight-sets defeat in the last eight Wednesday against Jack Draper, De Minaur leaves New York proud of what he has accomplished in his first tournament since suffering a hip injury at Wimbledon, where he withdrew prior to his quarter-final against Novak Djokovic.

“I’d rather try and think about what I was doing six, seven weeks ago and where I am now and try to focus on that, instead of dwelling on what just happened and me potentially having one of the bigger opportunities of my career and it just slipping away from my hands,” De Minaur said in his post-match press conference. “So I’m going to stick with the positives that I’m proud of myself.”

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Boasting a 40-13 season record, the Sydney native was aiming to become the first Australian man in the US Open semi-finals since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.

Despite showing signs of being hindered by injury, De Minaur did not blame his ailments after the loss.

“Sure, I wish I felt better. Let’s just put it that way. It’s tough. It’s a big opportunity. It’s a big chance,” De Minaur said. “I was expecting to feel better, I was trending in the right direction. And today was a little bit the opposite of that. But yeah, it’s fine.

“I dealt with it after Wimbledon. I’ll deal with it after here and I’ll be back in no time, and hopefully sliding from side to side without a thought in my head.”

Competing in his first hard-court tournament since Miami in March, De Minaur entered the quarter-final with a perfect 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the 22-year-old Draper. But the lefty’s heavy-hitting fueled him to a breakthrough 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win.

“I think Jack is never easy to play in the best of times and the way he can spread the court, being a lefty and really [able to] move you around the court, it takes a toll on the body,” De Minaur said.

“He’s got weapons. He knows how to use those weapons effectively. He’s yet to lose a set in this tournament, so he’s got to be doing something right… He’s got big weapons and he can hurt anyone.”

A four-time major quarter-finalist, De Minaur departs the season’s final Slam at eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. He is aiming for his maiden trip to the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals.

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