Jannik Sinner reached the 2024 US Open final, but his health will be closely monitored after a serious injury scare.
After overcoming Daniil Medvedev, there wasn't any other fellow Grand Slam champion standing in Sinner's way at the 2024 US Open. He was the only Top 10 player in the semi-finals, and he wanted to use that to his advantage.
Standing in his way was his good friend Draper, who the Italian has a good relationship with. Both spoke about it prior to their semi-final meeting at Flushing Meadows, but if they wanted to succeed, they had to forget that.
They certainly did that as their match proved to be a real battle, a very physical battle. Both were able to hold their serve for quite a long time in the first set of the match, but that changed in the seventh game.
The World No. 1 player could strike first, breaking his opponent's serve with his first break point in the match, but Draper needed only three break points in the following game to immediately break back.
However, after the Brit was broken in the eleventh game of the first set, in which he led 30-0, he couldn't find another inspired break back, as the top seed held his serve to love to win the opening set 7-5.
In the second set, things got really interesting. Both players battled for every single point. In the opening game, Sinner had two break points, the Brit had one break point in the second game, and the Italian player had one more in the third game.
The World No. 1 player then had one more break point in the fifth game, but neither of those were used. That meant that after six games of play, the scoreboard showed 3-3. Both then held their serves to make it 4-4, when probably the most dramatic game of the match came.
15-40 down on his opponent's serve, Sinner did everything to extend the ninth game, so much that he involuntarily sacrificed also his own health. In what was the rally of the match, the Italian player tried to chase down every single ball, and he did, but at the price of a fall.
During the fall, he seemingly injured his left wrist, and immediately after he got up, despite winning the point, Sinner didn't celebrate heavily. Instead, he was worried about his physical condition.
The Italian lost the game, going down 4-5, and he requested a medical time-out during the changeover. Funnily enough, his opponent also needed a medical time-out for some kind of a stomach issue.
The fact that he was dealing with a stomach issue was apparent to everyone at the Arthur Ashe Stadium as only a couple of games before, the British player got sick on the tennis court.
Everyone noticed that, and Draper's compatriot, Laura Robson, who was doing commentary for the match, also pointed out the hygienic aspect of that, as the British player cleaned it up with his own towel, which he then put back into his towel box.
"Jack’s just cleaned up his own sick with his towel and then put it back in the towel box. In terms of hygiene, we could be doing better down here."
Even getting sick didn't help Draper, and after a medical time-out following the ninth game, Sinner seemed to be healthy, being able to hit his backhand like he did prior to the injury scare.
Still, he had to battle it out for the second set in the tie-break. Showing his experience with playing at such a stage, Sinner could do that with ease, winning the tie-break 7-3 to create a 2-0 lead in the match.
After the second set, Draper left the court and returned after about six minutes, but even the brief break didn't inspire him to make an inspired effort, as he visibly continued to struggle physically.
The British player didn't even chase down some balls, and as someone who has experience with playing high-stakes matches, Nick Kyrgios, who has commented on the match for ESPN, stated that in his mind, Draper didn't have a chance to overcome the physical problems and win the match.
"Me, personally, I don't think so, but for TV (points toward the camera with a grin) he's got a chance!"
The Australian player spoke from experience, and he wasn't wrong. The 25th seed continued to struggle, having to face a break point already in the second game of the third set. While he was able to save that, he couldn't stop a storm of points coming from his opponent a few games later.
From 2-2, Sinner won 12 of 14 rallies to build a 5-2 lead in the third set. Given the circumstances and his physical struggles, probably even Draper didn't believe that he could come back, and he didn't.
Sinner controlled the remainder of the match to win it in three sets 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-2 to reach the 2024 US Open final, which will be his first in New York. After the Australian Open, which he won earlier this year, it will is also the second major at which he reached a final.
In the final match, the World No. 1 player can prepare to face not only his opponent but also the rowdy New York crowd as he will take on the winner of an all-American clash between Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe.
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