Jack Draper's dream US Open run was ended in gruelling fashion by world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the semifinals, as the Italian reached the final with a straight-sets victory in New York on Friday.
Sinner triumphed 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 over the British No. 1 in a physical contest lasting just over three hours at Flushing Meadows and will meet either Taylor Fritz or Frances Tiafoe in Sunday's final. The American pair due to face off in the second semifinal later on Friday.
Draper, the 25th seed, had surged through to his maiden Grand Slam semifinal without dropping a set, the first man to do so at US Open since 2020.
He had also yet to drop his serve en route to the last four, but that record was dashed in the seventh game of the first set as Sinner broke for a 4-3 lead. Draper impressively grabbed an immediate break back against the 2024 Australian Open champion, but he was punished for serving up six double faults in the opening set to allow Sinner to break again at 5-5 and serve out to take it 7-5.
Draper was increasingly struggling with the humidity in New York and, along with frequent grip changes to his racquet and a change of shirt, was required to change his shoes as sweat deluged the court in the second set.
Despite also appearing to vomit multiple times during the set, Draper held firm to stay on serve. After the ninth game, Sinner joined Draper in needing treatment after taking a nasty fall on his wrist.
Sinner, though, brushed it off and went onto take a two-set lead after cruising through the tiebreak for the loss of just three points.
After the second-longest set of the men's tournament at 96 minutes, Draper had little more to give in the third. Despite grinding out holds in his first two service games, Sinner broke in the sixth game to finally end Draper's resistance. He broke once more to clinch a spot in the final.
Draper had become the first British man to reach the US Open semifinals since Andy Murray won the title in 2012 after beating 10th seed Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals.
After starting the year ranked No. 61 in the world, Draper is assured of breaking into the top 20 of the ATP rankings for the first time.
