Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals at the US Open against a friend. The Italian, world number 1, after the victory against the Russian Daniil Medvedev, is preparing to face the British Jack Draper on Friday 6 September: “A friend,” says Sinner. The 22-year-old British player, number 25 in the world, is experiencing the best moment of his career. In New York he plays his first semifinal in a Slam tournament and, without defeats in 5 matches, he is hunting for the second title of the season after the one he won on the grass of Stuttgart with the final won against Matteo Berrettini.
Sinner and Draper have met only once on the ATP circuit: on the ‘home’ grass at Queen’s, in 2021, the left-handed Sutton prevailed. “We know each other well, it will be an interesting match. I don’t remember any matches at junior level, we used to meet but we weren’t friends yet.. It’s nice to see how far we’ve come as players and as people. On the tour we’ve only played at Queen’s,” Sinner said in the press conference after his victory over Medvedev.
“It will be a tough match, Jack is playing at a very high level: he serves very well, he hits the ball perfectly. He is playing the best tennis of his career, it will be tough. He is a complete player, he has a great serve and relies a lot on serve and volley, he moves great. Whoever reaches the semifinals deserves the result they achieved: there are no easy challenges. In the semifinals there are different sensations compared to the first and second round matches. It will be a difficult match for both of them.“, says the blue one.
Draper recalled an Under-18 doubles match: in that match, the Briton said, Sinner was considered the weaker opponent by the Briton. “At junior level I wasn’t that good…”, Sinner smiles. “I don’t remember facing him in doubles, I remember watching him from the outside. Left-handers are rarer, his way of hitting the ball was always great. We met on the tour, we text each other in good times and bad. It’s a great friendship, we’ll put it aside for a while during the match. Then we’ll shake hands and everything will go back to how it was before”, Sinner concludes.