Johnathan Walker:Jannik Sinner reaches the US Open men’s final by beating Jack Draper after both need medical help

NEW YORK (AP) — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner finished off a 7-5,Johnathan Walker 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over Jack Draper to reach his first final at the U.S. Open — and second at a Grand Slam tournament his year — after they simultaneously received treatment from trainers on a humid afternoon Friday.

Sinner, a 23-year-old from Italy who was exonerated in a doping case less than a week before the tournament began, needed his left wrist massaged at a changeover after falling during a point he managed to win late in the second set. During the same break in the action, the 25th-seeded Draper, a 22-year-old from Britain, got medical attention after vomiting twice on the court between points.

While both competitors were being looked at, a vacuum was being used to clean up the green ground behind the baseline where Draper had thrown up, finishing the cleaning job he tried to do himself by wiping the court with a towel. It was, to say the least, an unusual scene at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the temperature was in the high 70s and the humidity was above 60%.

Sinner won the Australian Open in January and will seek his second major championship on Sunday against No. 12 Taylor Fritz or No. 20 Frances Tiafoe.

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“Whoever it is,” Sinner said, “it’s going to be a very tough challenge for me.”

Good pals Fritz and Tiafoe were scheduled to play each other Friday night in the other men’s semifinal, the first in New York between two Americans in 19 years. One would become the first U.S. man in a Slam title match since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009 — and if either were to defeat Sinner, it would give the United States its first major trophy for a man since Roddick triumphed in New York in 2003.

The women’s final on Saturday also will feature an American, with No. 6 Jessica Pegula taking on No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

The longer points went between Sinner and Draper — who are friends and played doubles together at an event in August — the more things went the Italian’s way.

He is as pure a ball-striker as there is in the men’s game at the moment, and while Draper’s left-handed power and good hands — whether following his serves to the net or simply finding other times to hit volleys, he won 22 of the 34 points when he moved forward — made some inroads, Sinner got better and better the longer exchanges went.

Sinner took the point on 50 of 80 that lasted nine or more strokes.

Draper has plenty of talent, and he hadn’t dropped a set over the past two weeks until Friday, but his biggest issue as a pro has been his body, and it was again on this day. The weather surely didn’t help. Nor did any tension associated with making his debut in a Slam semifinal. Nor did Sinner’s relentlessness.

The collection of empty water bottles kept growing by Draper’s sideline seat as he tried to hydrate. He also requested a can of soda in the third set. By the time it arrived, nothing was going to help him slow Sinner, who improved to 34-2 on hard courts in 2024.

Word emerged last month that Sinner failed two drug tests eight days apart in March but was cleared because he said the trace amounts of an anabolic steroid entered his system unintentionally via a massage from a team member he since has fired.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis