After the women’s semi-finals were played out on Thursday night, it is the turn of the men to play their semis in the US Open on Friday and we have two matches which should really entertain the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
We have the best player in the world on show who is looking for a spot in a second Grand Slam final of 2024 while the other three will be looking to make the trophy match at this level for the first time so this could be an historic night for someone.
Jannik Sinner vs Jack Draper
The first semi-final sees the world number one Jannik Sinner, now an emphatic favourite to bookend 2024 with Grand Slam titles, going up against the British star Jack Draper who has made it to this stage without dropping a single set.
There are shades in his fellow British player Emma Raducanu in that. Indeed, not only has Draper not yet dropped a set in the tournament but he has only conceded 36 games in the five matches he has played. He hasn’t had the toughest draw by any stretch of the imagination – the highest ranked opponent he has faced was Alex de Minaur whose body clearly gave way against him – but the emphatic nature of all his wins and his clean ball striking has been appealing. Sinner looked a little off colour in the opening round but has got better and better since then. He has only dropped one set since the first one he played in the competition and the way he took care of Daniil Medvedev speaks volumes of where his tennis is at right now, particularly when you consider he won in Cincinnati immediately prior to this event. These two have only met once which Draper won at Queens three years ago. I think it is a different match now but not necessarily one which will be one-sided in the Sinner favour. I do think Sinner wins the match but Tommy Paul took him to a couple of tiebreaks and led him 4-1 with a double break in the first set so Draper can certainly trouble the world number one. The 6/4 on Sinner winning and both claiming a set looks good to me as the longer this one goes the stronger Sinner should become.
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Taylor Fritz vs Frances Tiafoe
History will definitely be made in the second semi-final when for the first time in 18 years America will have a finalist of their own Grand Slam when Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe battle it out for the right to play for the title on Sunday.
This is a huge match for both men. Fritz has looked assured and of good quality throughout the tournament while Tiafoe has clearly been intensified by the New York crowds, as he has been for the past couple of years. Fritz is in a semi-final at this level for the first time and it will be interesting to see how he is affected by that. Both Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula were in the same boat on Thursday night and neither really showed up in the opening set. Tiafoe has played a US Open semi-final before where he went the distance with Carlos Alcaraz so he knows what to expect here and might come out the better player as a result of that. I certainly hope that is the case because Tiafoe is my outright pick and I’m effectively on him to win this match at 40/1. Fritz has won the last six meetings between the two but the occasion feels like this will make this a lot closer than any match they have played before so I’ll ride the Tiafoe wave and hope he can take us to the final.
Tips
Back J.Sinner to beat J.Draper and both to win a set for a 3/10 stake at 2.50 with Boylesports
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