It is often said that a tennis match is like a game of chess. On a humid, incident-packed evening in New York, Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper proved otherwise.
The 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory that carried Sinner, the world No 1, into a first US Open final was not a matter of strategy and deliberation, so much as the survival of the fittest. Draper, the British 25th seed, who had reached his maiden grand slam semi-final without dropping a set, showed an abundance of quality and guts – a little too literally in the latter case, given his repeated vomiting – but it was Sinner who coped better with the clammy, airless conditions in Arthur Ashe Stadium, recovering from a jarring mid-match fall to prevail in three hours and three minutes.
The contest turned on a gruelling second set in which Draper, not for the first time, was forced to battle his body as well as his opponent. Drenched in sweat and gripped by anxiety, the 22-year-old vomited three times, and although he courageously clung on to his serve throughout, Sinner raised his level in the climactic tiebreak to establish an unassailable lead.
It was a bitter blow for Draper, who has worked so hard to strengthen his body after the catalogue of injuries that marred his early career, but admits that the anxiety he feels in big moments often manifests itself physically. After an early exchange of breaks, the Briton matched Sinner virtually step for step until 5-5 in the opening set, where an angst-ridden struggle on serve culminated with a double fault. Sinner served out the set with aplomb, and Draper said afterwards that it was in the next game, punctuated by a string of punishing rallies as the Italian pushed for an early break, that his condition began to deteriorate in earnest.
“At 5-5 [I the first set] we had a really tight game,” said Draper. “Sometimes in the matches you feel an anxious build-up in certain moments, and I definitely felt like that was a big game. I threw in a couple of double faults, I think it was deuce a few times, and then when I came out for the first game in the second set, he was obviously trying to get the break first game. I managed to hold him off, but was definitely starting to not feel great in that moment.
“Even though I generally feel pretty relaxed and stuff, I definitely felt a little bit more excited today, a few more nerves around. I’m definitely someone who’s quite an anxious human being. I think when you add all that together sometimes, I do feel a bit [of] nausea on court, and I do feel a little bit sick when it gets tough.”
No player is immune to nerves, and Draper will undoubtedly learn from the experience. Sinner demonstrated his own strength in dealing with adversity by recovering from a huge scare in the ninth game, when he tumbled backwards after scrambling to retrieve a ball deep behind the baseline, jarring his left wrist. While it did not prevent him from winning the point with a thumping forehand pass, medical staff were on overtime at the ensuing changeover, a doctor administering medication to Draper as a physio worked on Sinner’s wrist.
“The physio loosened it up very fast on court, so after I felt OK,” said Sinner, who grimaced as he received treatment. “Then after it went away by playing, which is good. Let’s see how it is tomorrow, when it’s cold, [if] it’s going to be a different feeling. Hopefully it’s nothing to be concerned about. I’m quite relaxed because, if it’s something bad, you feel it straightaway a bit more. Let’s see how it is.”
A fortnight that began with Sinner addressing the revelation that an independent tribunal cleared him of wrongdoing after he twice tested positive for a banned substance earlier this year, will now conclude with him seeking to win his second major of the season, following his maiden title at the Australian Open in January. In Sunday’s final, the 23-year-old will face Taylor Fritz, the American 12th seed, who later defeatedhis compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to become the first homegrown US Open finalist since Andy Roddick in 2006. Fritz, who has never previously advanced beyond the last eight of a major, said it was a challenge he would relish.
“I’ve always played well against Jannik, I think we’re one and one [in previous meetings],” said the 26-year-old Californian, who defeated Sinner in Indian Wells three years ago before the Italian returned the favour at the same venue last spring.
“It’s been a while since we played, but last time he got me in three at Indian Wells. He hits the ball big, he’s a very strong ball-striker, but I feel Iike I always hit the ball really nice off of his ball. I think I typically play well against him.”
Fritz was not always at his best against Tiafoe, chiefly because his fellow American would not allow it. Having won the first three games – perhaps not altogether unexpectedly, given that his only loss in seven previous meetings with the 2022 semi-finalist came eight years ago – Fritz abruptly found himself confronted by a very different player. As Tiafoe seized the initiative by reeling off six of the next seven games, electrifying the crowd with his ebullient shot-making, the match began to assume a fresh complexion. Fritz hit back to level, breaking late in a service-dominated second set, but when Tiafoe broke early in the third to move ahead by two sets to one, the match appeared to be on his racket.
Serving at 4-5 in the fourth set, Tiafoe appeared to be closing in on a famous victory. Instead, he frittered away two game points with a pair of double faults, butchered a forehand, and tamely netted a drop shot to hand Fritz the set. With the contest even and cramp setting in, Tiafoe was a double break down in the decider before he knew what had hit him. The match was over in all but name.
“I was the better player for sure tonight,” said a disconsolate Tiafoe. “In the fourth set, I just had some in-and-out cramps. I felt like my body just kind of shut down on me.”
Draper would no doubt sympathise.