Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz required the minimum and maximum number of sets, respectively, to secure their 2024 US Open semifinal wins Friday in Arthur Ashe Stadium. But both matches were drama-filled in their own way, with Sinner defeating Jack Draper and Fritz edging Frances Tiafoe in what was the first all-American Grand Slam semifinal since 2005.
The men's singles finalists will fight for the title on Sunday, but the women's doubles hardware was won on Day 12. Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko took home the second title of this 2024 US Open, after Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori won the mixed doubles event Thursday. Four more trophies were won in the US Open Junior Wheelchair Championships presented by Deloitte, with unseeded American Charlie Cooper claiming the boys' singles crown.
Let's take a trip around the grounds with some of the biggest stories from Friday's US Open action.
Sinner takes long way to three-set win
Two tightly contested sets gave way to a one-sided final frame as Sinner defeated Draper to advance to his first US Open final. The reigning Australian Open champion will bid to sweep this season's hard-court Grand Slams in Sunday's final, when he will play for the second major title of his young career.
In a 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-2 victory, Sinner pulled away from an exhausted Draper in the final set, after the Briton threw up on the court several times during a marathon 89-minute second frame. Also in the second set, Sinner hurt his left wrist on a hard fall—though he sprung up to rip a passing-shot winner before bending over in pain.
Both players received treatment during the ensuing changeover, with Draper leading 5-4, but Sinner was able to play through any lingering discomfort to dominate the rest of the match.
Discussing his wrist issue with the press, Sinner had a positive outlook, saying "it went away by playing, which is good." Though he can't be sure how it will feel after the adrenaline wears off, he knows Fritz's adrenaline will be sky-high come Sunday, boosted by the support of his home crowd.
"It's right, the atmosphere is what it's going to be. I mean, we are in America, we are in New York playing against an American, so it's going to be, for sure, the crowd a little bit more on their side," Sinner said. "But it's normal. It's like when I play in Italy, no? It's a bit the same. So I'm going to accept that. I have my team and my people who are close to me. In my mind, I know that there are many people watching from home from Italy, and it's just take some support from them."
Fritz edges Tiafoe in five-set classic
The first American man to reach a Grand Slam final since Andy Roddick in 2009, Fritz will bid to become the first American men's singles champ at a major since Roddick here in 2003. But after surviving a brilliant effort from Tiafoe to prevail, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, Fritz is no longer feeling the pressure.
"I don't think that I'm going to be put in a more, like, stressful situation than I was today, playing in a final," he said in his post-match presser. "I think today was much more stressful than me playing the final. I just feel good. I have a feeling I'm going to come out and play really well and win. When I play good tennis, I think that level is good enough to win."
The No. 1 American said he felt "overwhelmed" by his compatriot's high level, particularly in the third and fourth sets, but he did just enough to hang tough until Tiafoe's game dropped off in the final eight games.
Now 7-1 with seven straight wins in his head-to-head with Tiafoe, Fritz felt something was different on the other side of the net right from the start.
"I noticed very early on in the match, I hit like a really insane volley—for me—and typically if I were to do something like that, Frances would be, like, laughing... He loves to laugh when I hit a good volley, because, I mean, my volleys aren't great and he always overexaggerates how bad it is. I looked over at him expecting him to be smiling at me, and he was, like, dead serious.
"I was, like, OK, he's really serious, really locked into this one, because normally he'd be joking about something like that."
Tiafoe was all business, but Fritz sealed the deal, ringing the closing bell as Tiafoe's stock dipped in the fifth.
Kichenok/Ostapenko complete perfect women's doubles run
Kichenok and Ostapenko defeated Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai, 6-4, 6-3, to win the women's doubles crown in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The trophy is the first Grand Slam title in the discipline for both the Ukrainian and the Latvian champions, with Kichenok winning the Wimbledon mixed doubles trophy in 2023 (with Mate Pavic) and Ostapenko as the 2017 Roland Garros singles champ.
Finalists at the Australian Open to start the year, Kichenok and Ostapenko left nothing to chance in New York, storming to the title without losing a single set.
Juniors finals set
A full US Open Junior Championships semifinal slate set the stage for Saturday's finals in all four compeitions. Top-seeded Norwegian Nicolai Budkov Kjaer will face 12th-seeded Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the boys' singles final after both notched straight-sets wins on Day 12. Japanese seventh seed Wakana Sonobe will take on Mika Stojsavljevic in the girls' singles final, after the unseeded Briton knocked out third-seeded American Iva Jovic in the only three-set match of the junior singles semis.
Read USOpen.org's full junior wrap for the top stories on the young talent.
Cooper beats both junior wheelchair top seeds
Sixteen-year-old American Charlie Cooper completed a surprise run to the boys' singles title with a 7-6(2), 6-3 upset of second seed Ivar van Rijt. On back-to-back days, the unseeded Cooper knocked out the top two seeds in straight sets. He took out No. 1 Maximilian Taucher in the semifinals and backed it up with an equally impressive performance in the final.
No. 2 seed Yuma Takamuro of Japan claimed the girls' singles title with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win against top seed Vitoria Miranda of Brazil. Read USOpen.org's junior wheelchair wrap for more on the champions.
Shot of the Day: Jack Draper at full stretch...
Quote of the Day: “I don’t think I need to do anything different. I think it’s just a matter of time.” — Jack Draper
Tweet of the Day: During the women's doubles trophy ceremony, Lyudmyla Kichenok explained that she postponed her nuptials due to her extended US Open run. Her soon-to-be husband, Stanislav Khmarsky, is also the coach of her doubles partner, Jelena Ostapenko.
Parting Shot: American Charlie Cooper celebrates his surprise run to the junior boys' wheelchair title.
