The controversial No. 1 player in the world is all that stands in the way of the American dream to end a 21-year Grand Slam drought.
Arriving at the U.S. Open nearly two weeks ago embroiled in doping allegations, top-ranked Jannik Sinner continued his undistracted march to the finals with a 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory Friday over British upstart Jack Draper at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The top-ranked Sinner, who captured the Australian Open title earlier this year for the lone major victory of his career, will face the survivor of the All-American semifinal later Friday night between Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz for the championship on Sunday.
No U.S.-born male has won a major title since Andy Roddick hoisted the trophy in Queens in 2003.
Sinner, the only player on tour this year to reach at least the quarterfinals in all four majors, remains undeterred despite being docked prize money and rankings points after testing positive twice in March for trace amounts of the anabolic steroid clostebol in an eight-day span
The International Tennis Integrity Agency did not suspend Sinner, however, and ruled the 23-year-old Italian was not at fault, determining that the low levels of the drug were “a result of contamination from a support team member, who had been applying an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to their own skin to treat a small wound.”
Draper had never advanced past the fourth round of a Grand Slam event before rolling through the quarterfinals without dropping a set (15-0) over the Flushing Meadows fortnight, including a rout of No.10 seed Alex de Minaur in the quarters.
