US Open semi-final review: The strangest moment of the tournament so far

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Welcome to the US Open briefing, where The athlete will explain the stories behind the stories on each tournament day.

On the 12th day of the 2024 US Open, the most curious point of the tournament, the British junior success and a Paralympic shock.

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How Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper scored the strangest point of the tournament

Jannik Sinner was bent over and grabbed his left wrist. Jack Draper supported himself with his racket, but was barely on his heels.

Arthur Ashe Stadium stood on its feet.

With the score at 4-4 and 40-15 in the second set of their US Open semi-final, the world number 1 and the British number 25 seed scored a point that was not only the most exciting but also the strangest of the tournament so far.

Draper slid a serve down the T, got behind it and hit an angled forehand volley into the front of the side court. Sinner jumped on it and hit an angled backhand almost horizontally to the net, forcing Draper to run across the court. He was already on his way and managed to hit another forehand deep into the deuce corner.

Sinner somehow raced back and hit a lob high in the air while facing the back wall of the court, getting ready to turn around and see what Draper had for him.

Then things got weird.

Trying to get out of the slide that had put him in a position to hit the lob, Sinner leapt up from the ground, twisted in the air and fell awkwardly on his left wrist. He immediately got back up. But instead of a sound whistling past his ear, nothing happened; he had thrown the ball so high that it didn't even come down. Draper was there, just waiting.

When the ball finally bounced, Sinner shook out his left wrist before taking a split step – the little jump on the toes that tennis players do to explode in both directions – while Draper put a slightly sloppy smash in play. Sinner got behind it and blasted a forehand winner straight through Draper. As the crowd roared, Sinner took a few stealthy steps forward before moving to the side, holding onto his wrist.

A few points later, Draper won the game and both players received medical treatment on the sidelines.

James Hansen

At the age of 15, the first British US Open winner in the girls’ category in 15 years?

15-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic has reached the singles final of the US Open without losing a set – including a win over Australian Emerson Jones, the world number 2 junior.

In the first set of her semifinal, Stojsavljevic defeated American Iva Jovic 6-0.

Playing in the main draw of the singles, 16-year-old Jovic defeated Poland's Magda Linette, who is twice her age and ranked 347 places higher. Jovic then missed out on victory against 29th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova by about a set. In short, she is not easy to beat and came back in the second set to tie the match. But Stojsavljevic, who began her career at Ealing Lawn Tennis Club in west London, kept calm in the third set, winning 6-3 and moving into the final against Japan's Wakana Sonobe.

James Hansen

Dominant but defeated: A Paralympic legend is also just a human being

Diede de Groot has won everything in wheelchair tennis.

Three consecutive Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open) from 2021 to 2023; the most women's wheelchair singles titles in history (23); the Golden Slam three years ago – the four Grand Slam titles, plus gold at the pandemic-postponed Paralympics in Tokyo, where she defeated Japan's Yui Kamiji 6-3, 7-6 (1).

At the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, De Groot would face Kamiji twice and had a 29-0 winning streak against her former doubles partner.

She failed to win either game. Read more below.

Charlotte Harpur

What is the mood among the masses?

The US Open has tried to be more tolerant of fans this year, a fair endeavor with increasing ticket and honey deuce prices and greater crowds through a series of day and night sessions.

The biggest change is likely to be that fans will be allowed to take – and leave – their seats not only at changeovers, but also during any break in play.

This led to some odd interactions between ushers and fans, especially in the outfield areas with more open seats, and awkward confusion in the aisles during the shorter breaks in evenly matched games when players would stay in the same ends and quickly return to the action.

This clearly became an annoyance for Jannik Sinner during his semi-final victory over Jack Draper on Friday, when he begged umpire Marijana Veljovic to do something about the milling fans as he tried to serve out the first set at 6-5.

Jannik Sinner's biggest fans, the Carota Boys, were there for the final stages (Kena Betancur / AFP via Getty Images)

Veljovic was already unhappy with the fans. She had just reprimanded them for shouting loudly during the scoring. “It's very disturbing when you make such a noise during the rally,” she said. “Please stay quiet.”

Of course, right on cue, the sound of a crying baby echoed throughout the stadium and a cell phone rang so loudly it could be heard across the large octagonal grandstand.

The noises briefly prevented Draper from serving.

Some fans made fun of Veljovic's reprimand. And many others complained about the uncomfortable obstruction of their view “down front” throughout the entire semi-final.

All in all, it is an indication that there are clear differences in fan sensibilities in tennis compared to many other popular professional spectator sports in the United States, where ambient noise levels are higher and there are less strict rules about movement in the dressing room.

Oscar Garcia

A big day for Kichenok, instead of the big day

Latvian Jelena Ostapenko became Grand Slam singles and doubles champion on Friday after winning the women's doubles title at the US Open with Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok.

The pair reached the final of the Australian Open in January and surpassed their performance in New York, defeating France's Kristina Mladenovic and China's Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-3.

For Kichenok, reaching the final had far-reaching consequences. She has been engaged to fellow countryman (and Ostapenko's coach) Stas Khmarskiy for about a year, and upon arriving in New York, the two decided to get married this Wednesday.

Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko won a title before Kichenok's wedding (Luke Hales / Getty Images)

However, due to the advances of Kichenok and Ostapenko, they had to hastily reorganise.

“I think this is a good excuse to postpone it a little bit,” Ostapenko said during the awards ceremony.

Kichenok did not seem too disappointed by the delay and dedicated the victory to her home country.

“They are fighting really hard for our freedom right now and I hope I can give them some encouragement,” she said.

“My heart is with them.”

Charlie Eccleshar

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(Top photo of Jannik Sinner: Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press; Design: Eamonn Dalton and Megan McMillan; Development by Alyssa Lum, Eric Mier and Tani Robinson; Design lead by Amy Cavenaile)