Consider Wednesday night a reminder.

Yes, the story of this US Open tournament is about the American men.

Two of them, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, are vying for a place in the final, hoping to end the 21-year drought in which no player from the country has won a Grand Slam title.

But the number 1 on the seeding list still stands and it looks like he is the one to beat.

Jannik Sinner arrived in Queens plagued by a doping scandal.

It hasn’t caused any distractions on the field.

He lost the first set he played at the Open, and only one since, to advance to the semifinals with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over fifth-seeded 2021 US Open winner Daniil Medvedev at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Whichever American survives Friday will likely have to beat Sinner on Sunday.

In the other semi-final he will face number 25 Jack Draper.

“I’m lucky that I’ve played with these feelings before, but let’s see,” said Sinner, the only semifinalist to ever win a Grand Slam. “You know, it’s going to be very interesting to see. I’m happy to be in this position and try to play great tennis.”

It was a strange match between the two highest ranked players left in the men’s division.

Sinner dominated the first and third sets, Medvedev the second.

The fourth set was evenly matched until Sinner broke through. He took advantage of a loose service game from Medvedev and took a 4-3 lead when the Russian hit a forehand wide.

Sinner decided the match with his serve, hitting an inside-out forehand winner.

“It’s tough (against him),” Medvedev said. “I mean, he’s one of the best players in the world, by being the best, and he deserves it. He’s a tough player to play against. He feels the game well. He often chooses the right shot at the right time.”

For Sinner this was already a memorable tournament, the first time he reached the semi-finals at the Open.

A title here would be the crowning achievement of a great season for the Italian, which began with winning his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and reaching the semi-finals at the French Open.

Of course, that’s not the whole story of the Year of the Sinner.

The week before the last Grand Slam of the year, it was announced that Sinner had tested positive twice in an eight-day period for traces of the anabolic steroid Clostebol.

Prize money and ranking points were deducted from him.

Clostebol is the same drug that earned San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. an 80-game suspension.

However, Sinner was not suspended, as the International Tennis Integrity Agency ruled that he was not at fault.

He fired his fitness trainer, who had bought an over-the-counter spray of Clostebol in Italy, and the physical therapist who had used it on a cut on his finger. He then treated Sinner and injected the substance into his body.

The ITIA found that the low levels of the drug “were the result of contamination by a support team member who had applied an over-the-counter spray containing clostebol to his own skin to treat a minor wound.”

A number of players, notably Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios, have expressed doubts about the way the case was handled.

But there’s no doubt about Sinner’s role in Queens.

“Of course it was a difficult situation in the beginning,” he said. “But you know, day by day it got better. So I’m happy with that. Now let’s see in the semi-finals what I can do.”