Having navigated the most crucial fortnight of his blossoming career with admirable ruthlessness and confidence, Jack Draper stepped into Arthur Ashe Stadium for the biggest match of his career fully aware that he would need to take both his game and his physique to a new level to take on the men's number one player, Jannik Sinner.
Instead, the match descended into complete chaos as Draper fought hard to the end, vomiting multiple times and sweating profusely in the humid conditions. In one of the strangest matches of the tournament, Sinner, who was suffering from a wrist injury from a fall during the match, defeated Draper 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 after three hours and three minutes of psychological drama to reach his first U.S. Open final.
With his 54th win in a stunning season, Sinner became the first Italian player to reach a US Open singles final. After winning 34 of his 36 matches on hard courts this year, the Australian Open champion is looking to end the season with his second Grand Slam title of the year.
It's a surprising development given the news that preceded Sinner's arrival in New York: A week before the start of the U.S. Open, the Italian announced that he had tested positive twice for the banned substance clostebol in April, but an independent adjudicating body recently ruled that Sinner was not at fault or negligent in having the banned substance in his system due to contamination.
Though Sinner is just four months Draper's senior, the two players came into the match with a big difference in experience: Nearly every aspect of the semifinal run was uncharted territory for Draper, who had reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament just once in his career, while Sinner has been ranked in the top 20 for the past three years and is already just the fourth active player to reach the semifinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments.
The importance of the moment was clear from the excitement that grew around him. Jack's mother, Nicky Draper, had made a last-minute flight to New York to watch her son play in his first Grand Slam semifinal. The US Open was suddenly packed with many more British media, anticipating the big match. Though Draper tried to keep his cool, his warm-up on Court 6 before the biggest match of his career was a frenzy, with all eyes on him.
Both players won their opening service games strongly, with Draper's biggest issue early in the match simply being his serve. At 5-5, with both players already trading breaks early in the set, Draper's serve faltered. In a long, tough deuce game at 5-5, he double-faulted three times, including one on break point, to surrender a crucial break. Draper finished the opening set with a 52% first serve success rate and six double faults.
After a fairly unspectacular start, in the second set it became clear that Draper was struggling physically, and the match quickly descended into total chaos. His problems were manifested first by sweating profusely, sending multiple rackets off the court to change grips, and then changing into soaked tennis shoes, deciding they were too “dangerous” to compete. Beginning midway through the second set, Draper vomited multiple times on the court, and his mobility decreased as the match progressed. Despite his struggles, Draper was able to find his big serve and good shotmaking at crucial moments, while also allowing subpar sinners to elude him on multiple occasions. Somehow, Draper held serve throughout the set.
With Draper serving for 4-4, 40-15, Sinner produced one of the best points of the entire tournament, a brilliant defense that saw him fend off an overhead shot from Draper with a powerful forehand winner and then win the return. But on the point, Sinner lost his footing. Both players struggled physically, Draper looking sickly and Sinner dodging a backhand, but Sinner recovered to close out the second set in a commanding tiebreak. With Sinner leading by two sets and Draper looking nearly exhausted, the third set was a mere formality and the world number one closed out the match without any further drama to reach the second Grand Slam final of his career.
Draper's physical issues have been a defining feature of his career so far, from the heat stroke he suffered in his debut match to the various injuries and issues that have hindered his attempts to climb the rankings in recent years. He has worked incredibly hard and made great strides to be fit enough to perform every week on the ATP Tour and to put together this incredible breakthrough in New York, but he left the stadium certainly aware that he still has a lot of work to do.
