Russia’s Daniil Medvedev wipes his face as he plays against Italy’s Jannik Sinner during their men’s quarterfinals match on day ten of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Jannik Sinner closed in on his second Grand Slam title of 2024 on Wednesday (September 4, 2024) when he reached his maiden US Open semifinal as Jessica Pegula stunned Iga Swiatek to complete a rollercoaster Grand Slam year for the World No. 1.
Top seed Sinner defeated 2021 US Open champion and two-time runner-up Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
He will take on 25th-ranked Jack Draper for a place in the final after the British player made his first semifinal at the Grand Slams with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
Sinner, 23, is the only top-10 man to make the semifinals, with No. 12 Taylor Fritz due to face US compatriot Frances Tiafoe, ranked 20, in Friday’s other last-four duel.
Sixth-ranked Pegula booked a place in the last-four of a Grand Slam for the first time by sweeping past Swiatek 6-2, 6-4.
On Thursday, she will tackle Karolina Muchova, who saw off Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 6-1, 6-4.
Emma Navarro of the US tackles World No. 2 and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the other women’s semifinal.
Draper pulled off the victory over 10th-ranked De Minaur despite taking a medical timeout early in the second set to have his right thigh bandaged.
Momentous occasion
“It’s amazing. My first time on Arthur Ashe Stadium, it means the world to me,” said Draper.
“I played a solid match and I feel the best, fitness-wise, that I have felt in a long time.”
Draper is the first British man to make the last four since Andy Murray won the title 12 years ago.
He has made the semifinals without dropping a set as he continued an impressive summer run which saw him capture his first ATP title in Stuttgart and then defeat Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s Club.
Pegula has now won 14 times in 15 matches on US hard courts this summer. “Finally I can say I’m a semifinalist. I lost so many of these damn things,” said the American after her fourth career win against Swiatek.
Before Wednesday, she had lost six times at the quarterfinal stage at the Majors.
Swiatek was undone by 41 unforced errors and was left to ponder an uneven season at the Grand Slams.
There was the high of a fourth French Open triumph but that was sandwiched by third-round exits at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. At the Paris Olympics, played on her favourite Roland Garros courts, she had to settle for the bronze medal.
Published – September 05, 2024 10:46 pm IST
