Jannik Sinner beats Auger-Aliassime in four sets and flies to the final at the US Open, the last Slam of the season. The score, 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4, does not fully make the hardness of almost three and a half hours of play in Flushing Meadows, made of intense exchanges, long game and continuous changes of inertia and leadership. Both players accused the heavy and humid climate of the stadium, with the intervention of the physiotherapist requested by both sides.
In the end the blue found the solidity necessary to close a difficult match and earn a new final against Carlos Alcaraz who, in the other semifinal, has passed Novak Djokovic in three sets.
Sinner starts strong by re -proposing that asphyxiating game that this year has left no escape to none of his opponents. The ball travels fast, fly over the net, kisses the lines. There is depth in every exchange. Auger-Aliassime tries not to get back too much, to stay inside the field and respond a hit, but the arm wrestling seems to be one-way. The initial break allows the blue to manage the set by focusing everything on the service. The Canadian increases the pressure, varies heights and rotations, but it always remains a step too much behind the bottom line. And he is forced to risk more on the second balls, as well as force the former, in order not to suffer the sharp response of Sinner. In short, the solutions that guaranteed him the victories on Zverev, Rublev and De Minaur do not work. The first set closes fast: 6-1 in 43 minutes for Italian.
The number 27 of the world, however, does not surrender and part strong in the second set. On the first round of Sinner’s joke, he gets three consecutive break balls, the first of his game. The blue, however, is saved with five points in a row who cancel the opportunity and overturn the inertia of the game. From there the balance holds for several games: both hold the service without granting spiragli in response, with solid exchanges but without decisive tears. The trend remains linear up to the eighth game, when the same script is repeated: Auger-aliassime still goes 0-40. Sinner cancels the first chance with authority, but on the second he must surrender to the heavy and precise straight of the Canadian. From that moment the set turns. Auger-aliassime no longer mistakes anything, finds rhythm and depth, rejects the accelerations of Italian that appears less brilliant and less shiny in exchanges. At the service, the Canadian raises the percentage and closes the points effectively. In a few minutes the partial is directed: 6-3 for him. For Sinner, however, it is all to be reconstructed. Throughout the second fraction it just collects a point in response, a sign of a set dominated by the opponent. Applause and incitements arrive from the stands for the disadvantaged on the eve: the public, who wanted a fought game, now has it.
The drop is explained shortly after: there is a physical problem. Italian calls the physiotherapist, indicating annoyances to the abdomen. Medical Timeout with Sinner is granted that leaves the field to return to the changing rooms. On the Arthur Ashe stadium the silence falls, with the fear that it may be a new retreat. After a few minutes, however, Sinner returns to the field and resumes position behind the bottom line.
The third set opens, therefore, with the unknown of the Healthcare Conditions of the blue. Every gesture and every look towards the box seem to be a signal to be deciphered. But in the end it reassures everyone, everything seems ok. In the field the situation remains in balance. Auger-aliassime continues to play with intensity, solid in the service and ordered in exchanges. Sinner replies, but he cannot imprint the usual thrust: the percentage of the first is low and often the Canadian to command the rhythm, taking advantage of the lesser incisiveness of the Italian. The turning point reaches the sixth game. An error of Auger-Aliassime allows the blue to place an almost unexpected break, which gives him confidence and precision in the blows. From that moment the roles reversed: Sinner returns to play the game, while the Canadian begins to give way on the physical level, also thanks to the suffocating humidity of the stadium. It almost does not run anymore, shortens the exchanges and inevitably loses them. The South Tyrolean manages with lucidity and closes set 6-3. After just over two hours of play, the match returns to its side.
Now it is AUGER-Aliassime to take a break: it is part of the changing rooms, looking for energy. Upon returning to the field it seems fresher. He holds the service and earns two break balls, which Sinner cancels with two first heavy ones, taking 1-1. In the next game the blue must erase three more, remaining clinging to the score with fatigue and resistance. It is a complicated moment, with the Canadian pushing to the maximum to get back into the game. The score says 2-2.
At the fifth game the first opportunity also arrives for Sinner, who raises the aggression and attacks the opponent’s less incisive seconds. And unlike AUGER-Aliassime, he immediately uses the chance in a cynical and ferocious way: the break reaches the first opportunity. The fourth set takes a clear direction. Now the task is simple, at least in words: keeping your beaten shifts and close the match. And it is at this moment that the number 1 in the world comes out. Sinner gives no escape to AUGER-Aliassime. You need it well, she keeps the exchange dot, it does not make mistakes. The fourth set ends 6-4 and the last point, given the enormous effort, is a sort of liberation. The blue raises the arms to the sky, breathes due to the weight that has just raised from the stomach and rejoices with the audience that pays tribute to both players for the great proposed show. In the next few hours, after the well -deserved rest, the South Tyrolean will be able to think about the new chapter of the challenge that all fans waited for from the first day. And it will be necessary to be ready because, in addition to the title in New York, Sinner and Alcaraz will also be played the first world position.