NEW YORK – Top-ranked Jannik Sinner used an aggressive, net-rushing style to reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time by getting past 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday night.
Sinner — a 23-year-old from Italy who was cleared in a doping case less than a week before the U.S. Open started after testing positive twice for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid in March — will go up against No. 25 Jack Draper of Britain on Friday for a berth in the title match.
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After Week 1 exits by Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner took over as the title favorite and now is the only man remaining in the field with a Grand Slam trophy. He won his first at the Australian Open in January by beating Medvedev in the final in five sets after dropping the first two.
As reflected by the accurate-as-can-be score, this matchup was unusually topsy-turvy as they took turns dominating a set at a time.
First, it was Sinner who was superior. Then that role was played Medvedev, the runner-up at Flushing Meadows to Djokovic last year and to Rafael Nadal in 2019. Then Sinner regained the upper hand in the third. In the fourth, from 3-all, Sinner surged, saving a pair of break points, then breaking Medvedev to lead 5-3.
“We know each other quite well. ... We knew it was going to be very physical," said Sinner, who lost to Medvedev in five sets at Wimbledon in July. "It was strange the first two sets, because whoever made the first break then started to roll.”
The key: Sinner won the point on 28 of his 33 trips to the net, including 9 of 11 on serve-and-volley approaches.
“We tried to work really hard on this aspect of the game,” Sinner said. “Trying just to mix up the game.”
Medvedev was particularly uneven. He only had one fewer winner than Sinner but finished with 19 more unforced errors.
Friday's other semifinal will be No. 12 Taylor Fritz vs. No. 20 Frances Tiafoe in the first all-American men's matchup at this stage at a major in 19 years.
The women's semifinals Thursday night are Jessica Pegula vs. Karolina Muchova, and Aryna Sabalenka vs. Emma Navarro. Pegula eliminated No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Draper reached his first Grand Slam semifinal — and became the first British man to get that far at the U.S. Open since Andy Murray won the 2012 trophy — by overwhelming No. 10 Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.
Draper has won all 15 sets he's played so far, but things figure to get tougher against Sinner.
“This is not kind of like 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,” said Draper, whose upper right leg was taped by a trainer after he felt something at the end of the first set. “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.”
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis