Sinner defeats sick Draper to reach US Open final
Jannik Sinner booked his place in the US Open final after overcoming a valiant effort from an unwell Jack Draper, winning in straight sets 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 at Flushing Meadows.
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Sinner needed more than three hours to confirm the triumph, ending the Briton's impressive run in New York.
The world No.1 impressed on serve, producing 11 aces to Draper's eight, with the Briton also serving 10 double faults, six of which came in the first set.
In a contest decided by fine margins, an opening set that saw back-to-back break points was settled by Sinner with a love game to take the early advantage.
But in testing conditions, Draper struggled and was seen vomiting, subsquently resulting in him being unable to inflict enough damage on the Italian's service game as the second set went in the way of Sinner after a tie-break.
The Italian also recieved treatment to his left wrist after falling during a point he managed to win, going on to seal the win with an emphatic final set to end Draper's hopes of following in Andy Murray's footsteps at Flushing Meadows.
"First of all, me and Jack know each other very well, we are good friends off the court," Sinner started.
"It was a very physical match as we see. I just try to stay there mentally and he is so tough to beat.
"It is a very special occasion, thanks everyone for coming out. The support has been amazing. Just happy to be in the final here."
Sinner will look to secure his second Major title of the year against either Taylor Fritz or Frances Tiafoe who play in an all-American semi-final.
Sinner is the first Italian player to reach multiple men’s singles grand slam finals in the Open Era, and the second in tennis history after Nicola Pietrangeli.
Moving to a win-loss record of 60-18, only three players since 2000 have recorded 60 men’s singles wins in fewer grand slam matches than Sinner (78) – Carlos Alcaraz (70), Rafael Nadal (72) and Novak Djokovic (77).
Only Jimmy Connors (1974 and 1975) and Roger Federer (2004) have made the men’s singles finals at the Australian and US Open the same year, younger than the Italian (23 years and 21 days).
