Aucun Italien n'avait atteint la finale de l'US Open en simple messieurs avant lui. Jannik Sinner a mis fin à cette anomalie, ce vendredi, après un combat de plus de trois heures face à son ami Jack Draper, tête de série n°25. Succès 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-2. Le Britannique disputait lui sa première demi-finale en Grand Chelem, et a n'a pas tenu le choc physiquement, malgré un excellent niveau. Jannik Sinner découvrira l'atmosphère d'une finale à Flushing Meadows, dimanche, face à un Américain : Taylor Fritz. Il faudra être solide pour tenir face au public américain, toujours survolté pour aider ses compatriotes.
Vidéo : @USOpen
Vidéo : @USOpen
Category
🥇
SportTranscription
00:00Yeah, tough match, physical match. Playing against Jack, it's never easy. He's served
00:08very well and yeah, felt like it was a very tough match, so happy to win this one.
00:17Thank you. One question each. English, David.
00:22Hi there, Yannick. You took a tumble and had some attention to your wrist there, or your
00:28hand. How is it? How much of a concern is it?
00:32Yeah, the physio loosened it up very fast on court, so after I felt OK in the beginning,
00:42then after it went away by playing, which is good. Let's see how it is tomorrow when
00:49it's cold. It's going to be a different feeling. Hopefully it's nothing to concern about.
00:56I'm quite relaxed, because if it's something bad, you feel it straight away a bit more,
01:03so yeah, let's see how it is.
01:06Richard.
01:07Congrats on reaching the final. You said before the tournament it wasn't ideal conditions
01:12coming in, given what was happening away from the court. I just wonder, now that you're
01:16through to the final, how have you been able to compartmentalise all that and keep your
01:21focus?
01:22Yeah, we went just day by day, really, with not so many expectations. Trying to find my
01:31game, trying to find our rhythm. I started off the first day losing the first set, I
01:36was at the breakdown, going through that one, and just trying to find confidence throughout
01:43the days. We practised very hard in the days in between, trying to prepare each match in
01:51the best possible way. I'm happy to be in the final here. It's a special tournament,
02:00so let's see what's coming Sunday.
02:02Charlie.
02:03How strange was it when Jack was being sick on the court and trying to stay focused on
02:09your own game? Is that even weirder when it's a good friend of yours who's going through
02:14a hard time?
02:15Yeah. As I said already, we have a good friendship. We know each other quite well. Obviously it's
02:25tough for him, for sure. The same as they are a bit different to play in Grand Slams.
02:34You feel a lot of tension. It's a bit different. But it was nice to share the court with him.
02:42Hopefully we have some more battles in the future, which I'm quite sure about. He's made
02:47his breakthrough this week a little bit, playing some amazing tennis, serving very well. Physically
02:56he has improved a lot. He's going to be very tough to beat in the future, for sure. I'm
03:03happy for him. Talking about today, it was very physical, the first two sets. I also
03:12felt physically it was very tough, so I tried to stay there in the third set, which then
03:19brought me to finish it off in three.
03:23To follow up on that, what advice can you give to Jack to deal with that? He doesn't
03:29have as much experience as you at the high end. Do you think Jack, from what you've seen
03:33this fortnight, has the capabilities of perhaps winning a major in the next five years?
03:39Yeah, of course. He's ball-striking and choosing the right shots in the right time. There are
03:50some feelings you have with certain players and he's one of them, I feel like. Everyone
03:57has his own time and way and path. But I'm quite sure that he's potentially winning some
04:11big titles in the future, because he's a tough player to play against. He has a great attitude
04:16on the court, he's working hard. These are all things together, which is great to see.
04:29He's also lefty, it's something different. My point of view, also today he played very
04:35well the first couple of sets, then after he dropped physically a little bit. But I
04:41think we're going to see him much more from now on.
04:51Jack was just asked what your greatest weakness was, and he said that you were too nice. What
04:58do you think of that, and what do you think your greatest weakness is?
05:14Going for sure on the net. Sometimes I miss some volleys, shot selection. Sometimes I
05:23feel like I can make it a little bit better. They're all some small things which make the
05:30small details what makes a big difference in high level. For sure, me and my team, we
05:37know what we have to improve. Like today, maybe I should have gone a little bit more
05:44on the net sometimes. It takes time, it's not like magic. You have to go through certain
05:55moments. I lost matches by doing the right things, and then you have to keep working
06:01on that. Sometimes I won matches even doing the wrong things. You always have to talk
06:07with your team, trying to find the right balance. I'm quite sure that I still can improve.
06:16What did you think of Jack's comment that you were too nice?
06:21No, that's not true. We know each other very well. We had a chance to play doubles together.
06:42We give ourselves sometimes some tactical. For example, when he has to play against certain
06:50players, sometimes if he asks me, I give him a couple of things trying to play against.
06:57Obviously, I know in my mind he's lefty, so it's completely different. I feel like we
07:04are both very nice off the court. We are good friends. On the court, we try to play some
07:11good tennis. I think that's also what the crowd wants to see, so it's good.
07:17We have time for one more question.
07:19Janek, they're about to begin their match, the two Americans, Fritz and Tiafoe. Starting
07:26first with Taylor, what are your thoughts about the biggest strengths in his game and
07:32how you two match up?
07:34Big serve. Very solid player from the back of the court. He can hit strong, he can hit
07:45with rotation. He can mix up the game very well. He has played a lot this year, so he
07:52has a lot of rhythm of the match. If he wins, or if Francis wins, whoever is going to be
07:59in the final, they deserve to be in the final. It's going to be a tough match in any case.
08:04If it's Francis, we just played the final in Cincinnati. He's a very good mover. Good
08:14serve also. He can mix up the game with the slice. He's coming a little bit more to the
08:20net than Taylor, so it's a bit slightly different two players. I'm just looking forward for
08:28Sunday and then we'll see how it goes.
08:30Atmosphere? What are your expectations?
08:33It's right that the atmosphere is what it's going to be. We are in America, we are in
08:38New York playing against an American, so it's going to be for sure the crowd a little bit
08:44more on their side. But it's normal. It's like when I play in Italy. It's a bit the
08:51same. I'm going to accept that. I have my team and my people who are close to me. In
08:57my mind, I know that there are many people watching from home, from Italy. I'll just
09:02take some support from them.