NEW YORK (AP) — Jannik Sinner took a medical timeout because of a bothersome abdominal muscle during a mid-match lull before retaking control for a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the U.S. Open semifinals Friday night, moving closer to a second consecutive title at Flushing Meadows.
No one has repeated as the men's champion in New York since Roger Federer took five trophies in a row from 2004-08.
The No. 1-seeded Sinner, a 24-year-old from Italy, will face No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain, on Sunday, making them the first men in tennis history to meet in three straight Grand Slam finals within a single season, according to the ATP.
“It’s great for the sport having rivalries, having hopefully great matches in front of us,” Sinner said. “I’m someone who loves these challenges, and I love to put myself in these positions and to see how it goes.”
The top spot in the rankings will be on the line, too, in front of an Arthur Ashe Stadium audience that is expected to include President Donald Trump.
“It's a very special day,” Sinner said about Sunday's matchup. “It's a very amazing final again.”
Alcaraz got there by defeating 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2 earlier Friday.
Sinner advanced to his fifth consecutive title match at a Slam. He beat Taylor Fritz at Flushing Meadows 12 months ago and Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open in January, then lost to Alcaraz at the French Open in June, before beating his rival at Wimbledon in July.
“Amazing season,” Sinner said.
Against Auger-Aliassime, Sinner was terrific in the opening set, merely so-so in the next, when the abdominal issue limited his ability to serve his best, according to one of his coaches, Simone Vagnozzi.
“Sometimes you're tired and you can't let your opponent see that. At a certain point in the second set, his level went down. And naturally, if your opponent sees that, he can take energy from that," Vagnozzi said. "So you have to be good at masking your emotions and masking the physical issues Jannik had today.”
Sinner's run of 38 service holds that dated to the third round ended when Auger-Aliassime went up 5-3 in the second by driving a 99 mph inside-out forehand winner for a break that he marked with a loud yell.
That forehand was key for the 25-year-old Canadian who was trying to reach his first major final and already had eliminated No. 3 Alexander Zverev, No. 8 Alex de Minaur and No. 15 Andrey Rublev.
When he closed that set with a 117 mph ace, Auger-Aliassime had grabbed 12 of 13 points and the match was all even.
“I was going toe-to-toe, at times,” the 25th-seeded Auger-Aliassime said.
After that set, Sinner left the court for medical attention that Vagnozzi said afterward had made a difference.
Indeed, Sinner looked just fine when he returned from the locker room. So did his play.
“After the treatment, was feeling much, much better,” Sinner said. “At some point I didn’t feel anything anymore. I was serving back to normal pace, so it was all good. Nothing to worry about.”
After managing only three winners, but six unforced errors, in the second set, Sinner was back to being Sinner in the third: 11 winners, four unforced errors. He broke thanks to a stumbling, awkward return of a 124 mph serve that somehow landed in, drawing a netted response from Auger-Aliassime.
More of that came in the fourth, when, after saving five break points early — he saved 9 of 10 throughout the evening — Sinner broke to move ahead 3-2. Just 25 minutes later, it was over, and Sinner had earned his 33rd win in his past 34 Grand Slam matches, which includes an unbeaten run of 27 on hard courts.
“He’s been dominating on hard courts,” Auger-Aliassime said, “but, I mean, kind of everywhere.”
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis