Frances Tiafoe roared “let the best man win” as he goes head-to-head with Taylor Fritz for the prize of becoming the first American man to reach the US Open final since 2006.

“The times I’m playing really bad or whatever the case may be and he’s doing it or vice versa, I think we have kind of always pushed each other,” Tiafoe said.

Jessica Pegula staged an impressive comeback to reach her first career grand slam final at the US Open.

The American, seeded sixth, looked to be heading out as Karolina Muchova won seven games in a row to lead by a set and a break in their semi-final on Arthur Ashe Court.

But she rallied in superb style to claim a 1-6 6-4 6-2 victory to keep home hopes alive of a second successive American winner in New York.

Pegula is aiming to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner Coco Gauff, but will have to do it the hard way as she plays heavy favourite Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s final.

It is a shot at a first grand slam title for a player who had previously lost her last six quarter-finals on the biggest stage.

A brief recap of last night’s results in the women’s semi-finals…

The Belarussian, who was runner-up to Coco Gauff last season, is the hot favourite to go one better this year after dismissing home favourite Emma Navarro in the semi-final.

Sabalenka beat the 13th seed 6-3 7-6 (2) to reach a fourth grand slam showpiece match, where she will play another American in Jessica Pegulain the final.

Jack Draper and Jannik Sinner meet in the men’s semi-finals on Friday 6 September at the US Open, with the match set to begin at 8pm BST (3pm in New York).

The second semi-final, an all-American affair between Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, will start at midnight (7pm local time).

The US Open is being shown live on Sky Sports Tennis throughout the fortnight and both matches will be broadcast on the channel. Subscribers can stream the match online via the the Sky Sports Go app and website.

Draper, the British No 1, is playing the tennis of his life at Flushing Meadows, reaching the last four of a grand slam for the first time and doing so without dropping a set, and his dismantling of No 10 seed Alex de Minaur was another signal of intent.

But now the challenge gets tougher, with the world No 1 Sinner standing his way. The pair are similar in age – Draper is 22, Sinner is 23 – and they met plenty of times on the junior circuits, but their professional careers have only collided once, at Queen’s Club in 2021 when Draper won 7-6, 7-6.

Sinner, who won his first grand slam at the Australian Open in January, was not at his all-conquering best as he saw off Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals in what he described as “strange” match which saw them exchange 6-1 sets in the middle of the four-set contest.

Good evening and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the men’s singles semi-finals at the US Open.

British number one Jack Draper is looking to make the first Grand Slam final of his career as he takes on world number one Jannik Sinner from around 8pm BST.

And an all-American clash follows between Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, with an American guaranteed to be in the final for the first time since Andy Roddick in 2006.

We’ll have all the latest build-up, updates and reaction here.