Draper turned that around but suffered a comedy of errors two games later. First, sweat from his sneakers caused the court to briefly become unplayable. Then, after changing his shoes, a let was called when a ball flew from his pocket. He remained in front despite the distractions, and brought the Ashe crowd to its feet after nailing a deftly-struck volley.
Draper persisted even as he became physically ill from the back of the court. He and Sinner each called for the trainer—Draper for apparent heat illness, Sinner for his wrist—before the two played the best point of the match, Sinner playing absurd defense and cracking a bomb of a forehand in reply to a Draper overhead.
The set ultimately resolved in a tiebreaker with Draper, who became ill on court a third time, falling behind 5-1 by the first change of ends. Sinner forced a forehand error to earn five set points, converting the first on his serve to take a two-set lead in just under two and a half hours.
