Having come through the most important two weeks of his fledgling career with fearsome ruthlessness and self-belief, Jack Draper walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium for the biggest game of his career fully aware that the challenge required him to elevate both his game and his physique to new levels in order to compete with the men's number one player. Jannik the Fisherman.
Despite his best efforts, Draper was unable to show his best qualities, suffering physically in the damp conditions, vomiting several times. In one of the most turbulent matches of the tournament, Sinner, himself with a wrist injury, beat the British number one 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-2 in a three-hour and three-minute drama to reach the US Open final for the first time. He will face American Taylor Fritz, who beat her compatriot Frances Tiafoe in five sets in Friday's other semi-final.
With his 54th win of this immense season, Sinner is the first Italian in history to reach the US Open singles final. Having won 34 of his 36 matches on hard court this year, the Australian Open champion will be looking to cap his season by winning his second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
The last few weeks have been a remarkable period in Sinner's career. A week before the start of the US Open, the 23-year-old announced he had tested positive twice for the banned substance clostebol in April, before an independent tribunal ruled last month that Sinner had no fault or negligence for the presence of the banned substance in his body due to contamination.
Both players chained their first service games together with authority and, from the start of the match, they were evenly matched at the baseline in the various long and physical exchanges, the difference between them being in Draper's serve. In a difficult game tied at 5-5, he committed three double faults, including one on break point, to offer the decisive break of the set.
Early in the second set, the match descended into chaos as it became clear that Draper was struggling. He was sweating profusely, throwing several rackets off the court to change grips, and then changing his soaking wet shoes because they had become too “dangerous” for him. Starting midway through the second set, Draper vomited on the court several times and his mobility gradually declined. Even though he was struggling, Draper still managed to find big serves and excellent shots to hold his serve and eventually force a tiebreak.
“I didn’t feel great in the second set, but I still pushed through to the tiebreak,” Draper said. “I fought hard. I’m proud of myself. I tried to fight as hard as I could. I can’t do it against someone like that.”
At 4-4, 40-15 on Draper's serve, Sinner produced one of the best points of the tournament, a brilliant defence ending with a big smash from Draper with a massive forehand winner in response. But Sinner slipped during the point and his wrist was injured. He took a medical timeout after Draper held his serve, with the Briton also receiving medical attention. Sinner said: “The physio took the pain away very quickly on court, so after that I felt good at the beginning. Then the pain went away while playing, which is good. Let's see how it goes tomorrow when it's cold.”
With both players struggling physically, Draper appeared ill while Sinner avoided hitting backhands. But the Italian recovered and won the second set in a dominant tiebreak. With Sinner leading by two sets and Draper looking virtually on his feet, the third set was a formality as the world number one finished the match to reach the second Grand Slam final of his career.
Although Sinner is only four months older than Draper, the two players entered the match with a considerable gap in experience. Almost every aspect of this semi-final was new to Draper, who had only reached one previous fourth round at a Grand Slam, while Sinner has spent the last three years ranked in the top 20 and is already the fourth active player to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments. Draper believes his physical problems stem from his inexperience.
“I think it’s obviously a big event for me,” Draper said. “Even though I usually feel pretty relaxed and stuff, I felt a little more excited today, a little more nervous. I’m definitely someone who is, I think, a pretty anxious human being. I think when you add it all up, I feel a little bit nauseous on court sometimes, and I feel a little bit sick when it gets tough.”
Draper believes some of the physical problems he has suffered in recent years are down to the anxiety he sometimes feels before matches, which stems from his determination.
“I think I have a pretty strong mentality and I spend a lot of mental energy most of the time because I really want to,” he said. “But obviously that doesn’t necessarily help most of the time, especially in those five-set matches and those kinds of anxiety and feelings can build up. So that’s definitely something that’s a real strength for me, but also a weakness, and I have to continue to work on that.”
Draper's physical problems have defined his career so far. He has worked extremely hard and made significant progress to reach the point where he is robust enough to perform on the ATP Tour week in, week out and to achieve that breakthrough in New York. But when he left the stadium, he left with the knowledge that he still had work to do.
“I think I have to keep learning, keep growing, keep going through situations like today where I got stuck and wondering how I’m going to do it differently next time and all that kind of stuff,” Draper said. “That’s the biggest thing. I think it’s honestly just a matter of time. You have to experience, do everything right, practice consistently and over time you progress and you get stronger and you get better.”
