No. 1 Jannik Sinner Beats Daniil Medvedev to Reach US Open Semifinals

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 04: Jannik Sinner of Italy shakes hands with Daniil Medvedev of Russia after winning their Men's Singles Quarterfinal match on Day Ten of the 2024 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 04, 2024 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.   Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP
NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 04: Jannik Sinner of Italy shakes hands with Daniil Medvedev of Russia after winning their Men's Singles Quarterfinal match on Day Ten of the 2024 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 04, 2024 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP
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No. 1 Jannik Sinner Beats Daniil Medvedev to Reach US Open Semifinals

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 04: Jannik Sinner of Italy shakes hands with Daniil Medvedev of Russia after winning their Men's Singles Quarterfinal match on Day Ten of the 2024 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 04, 2024 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.   Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP
NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 04: Jannik Sinner of Italy shakes hands with Daniil Medvedev of Russia after winning their Men's Singles Quarterfinal match on Day Ten of the 2024 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 04, 2024 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner used an aggressive, net-rushing style to reach the US Open semifinals for the first time by getting past 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday night.
Sinner — a 23-year-old from Italy who was cleared in a doping case less than a week before the US Open started after testing positive twice for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid in March — will go up against No. 25 Jack Draper of Britain on Friday for a berth in the title match, The Associated Press reported.
After Week 1 exits by Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner took over as the title favorite and now is the only man remaining in the field with a Grand Slam trophy. He won his first at the Australian Open in January by beating Medvedev in the final in five sets after dropping the first two.
As reflected by the accurate-as-can-be score, this matchup was unusually topsy-turvy as they took turns dominating a set at a time.
First, it was Sinner who was superior. Then that role was played Medvedev, the runner-up at Flushing Meadows to Djokovic last year and to Rafael Nadal in 2019. Then Sinner regained the upper hand in the third. In the fourth, from 3-all, Sinner surged, saving a pair of break points, then breaking Medvedev to lead 5-3.
“We know each other quite well. ... We knew it was going to be very physical," said Sinner, who lost to Medvedev in five sets at Wimbledon in July. "It was strange the first two sets, because whoever made the first break then started to roll.”
The key: Sinner won the point on 28 of his 33 trips to the net, including 9 of 11 on serve-and-volley approaches.
“We tried to work really hard on this aspect of the game,” Sinner said. “Trying just to mix up the game.”
Medvedev was particularly uneven. He only had one fewer winner than Sinner but finished with 19 more unforced errors.
Friday's other semifinal will be No. 12 Taylor Fritz vs. No. 20 Frances Tiafoe in the first all-American men's matchup at this stage at a major in 19 years.
The women's semifinals Thursday night are Jessica Pegula vs. Karolina Muchova, and Aryna Sabalenka vs. Emma Navarro. Pegula eliminated No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Draper reached his first Grand Slam semifinal — and became the first British man to get that far at the US Open since Andy Murray won the 2012 trophy — by overwhelming No. 10 Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.
Draper has won all 15 sets he's played so far, but things figure to get tougher against Sinner.
“This is not kind of like an overnight thing for me. I’ve believed for a long time that I’ve been putting in the work and doing the right things, and I knew that my time would come,” said Draper, whose upper right leg was taped by a trainer after he felt something at the end of the first set. “I didn’t know when it would be, but hopefully from here, I can do a lot of amazing things. I’m very proud of myself.”



Liverpool Comes up Short against Forest Again in Premier League as Man City’s Fallibility Returns

 Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood greets fans at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool at the City Ground stadium in Nottingham, England, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood greets fans at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool at the City Ground stadium in Nottingham, England, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
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Liverpool Comes up Short against Forest Again in Premier League as Man City’s Fallibility Returns

 Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood greets fans at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool at the City Ground stadium in Nottingham, England, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood greets fans at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool at the City Ground stadium in Nottingham, England, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)

Liverpool will be glad to see the back of Nottingham Forest.

Two games against the big surprise of the Premier League season have yielded just one point for the leaders after their 1-1 draw at Forest’s rocking City Ground on Tuesday.

Liverpool has lost only once in 20 games so far this campaign — and that was 1-0 at home to Forest in September.

Four months later, Diogo Jota scored with a header from a corner in the 66th minute — just 22 seconds after coming on as a substitute — to earn Liverpool a draw that maintained its six-point cushion over Forest, which moved into second place in its improbable bid to qualify for the Champions League. And who knows, maybe more.

Forest was on course to record an unlikely home-and-away double over Arne Slot’s team after top scorer Chris Wood scored in the eighth minute.

Liverpool piled on the pressure late on but again failed to defeat Forest, which started the season more likely to be in a relegation battle than competing for the title.

"Before the season we needed to get as quickly as possible to 40 points," Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels said, referring to the total that typically is enough to guarantee safety. "With 17 games to go, we have got 41 so we can look a little bit higher."

Forest’s fans goaded Slot at times in a febrile atmosphere at the City Ground that hasn’t been this bouncing for a generation. The good times look to be back at a club that was famously European champions in back-to-back years under managerial great Brian Clough, in 1979 and '80.

Liverpool has a game in hand over Forest so is still in a strong position to win a record-tying 20th English league title. Arsenal is in third place, a further point back, and can trim the gap to Liverpool to four points by beating Tottenham in the north London derby on Wednesday.

"If we continue bringing performances like in the second half today," Slot said, "then we will not always be that unlucky that it ends with a draw."

City's fallibility returns

Manchester City showed more late-game fallibility in squandering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Brentford.

City conceded in the 82nd minute and again two minutes into stoppage time after Phil Foden scored twice for the struggling champions, who are battling to simply qualify for the Champions League this season.

Prior to winning its last two league games against Leicester and West Ham, City had won just one in nine to drop out of the Champions League qualification positions. During that poor run, City conceded two late goals to lose to Manchester United while also throwing away a three-goal lead late in a 3-3 draw against Feyenoord in the Champions League.

"We have to manage (games) a little bit better," City manager Pep Guardiola said, "but today was not bad."

Yoane Wissa and Christian Norgaard were the scorers for Brentford to leave City in sixth place.

Last-gasp equalizer for Chelsea

Chelsea salvaged a 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth thanks to Reece James' free kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time but saw its winless run in the league extend to five games.

Cole Palmer put Chelsea ahead with a cheeky finish in the 13th minute for his 14th goal of the season, only for Bournemouth to respond as Antoine Semenyo won a penalty — converted by Justin Kluivert — and smashed home a rising finish in the 68th.

Chelsea stayed in fourth place — at least until fifth-place Newcastle plays on Wednesday.

Potter’s first win Graham Potter secured his first win as West Ham manager as his new team beat Fulham 3-2.

Carlos Soler and Tomas Soucek scored first-half goals before Lucas Paqueta grabbed the crucial third for West Ham, which brought in Potter last week as a replacement for the fired Julen Lopetegui.

Potter’s first match in charge was a defeat at Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Friday.

Alex Iwobi scored Fulham’s goals to make it 2-1 and then 3-2.

West Ham moved 10 points clear of the relegation zone with the victory.

Orient set for City in FA Cup Third-tier Leyton Orient set up a fourth-round match with Man City in the FA Cup next month by beating second-tier Derby 6-5 on penalties.