He’s got a stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking. He’s unbeaten this week and hasn’t dropped a set. And his home Italian fans can’t get enough of him.

Things couldn’t get much better for Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals so far — despite an ongoing doping case that likely won’t be decided until early next year.

Sinner and U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz advanced to the semifinals on Thursday at the season-ending tournament for the year’s top eight players.

Sinner won the round-robin group after a 6-3, 6-4 victory over 2020 champion Daniil Medvedev; and Fritz advanced in second after rallying past Alex de Minaur 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Sinner was already assured of a spot in the last four before his match against Medvedev but still extended his winning streak to nine matches. Sinner beat Fritz in the U.S. Open final in September for his second Grand Slam title.

Sinner is playing at home for the first time since it was announced before his U.S. Open title that he tested positive in two separate drug tests this year.

A decision to clear Sinner of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in September and a final ruling in the case is expected in 2025.

Tifaoe fined for words with referee >> U.S. Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe was fined a total of $120,000 — but will not be suspended — for cursing repeatedly at a chair umpire after losing a match at the Shanghai Masters last month.

The ATP said during its season-ending tournament in Italy that its fines committee handed Tiafoe a penalty of $60,000 for aggravated behavior on top of the maximum on-site fine of $60,000 he got for verbal abuse.

Soccer

UEFA investigate Referee over alleged drug use >> UEFA started another investigation into English match official David Coote on Thursday after a video allegedly showed him using cocaine during the European Championship.

“A UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to evaluate a potential violation of the UEFA disciplinary regulations by the referee, Mr. David Coote,” UEFA said in a statement.

Coote worked as a video review specialist at Euro 2024, where match officials stayed at a hotel near Frankfurt. The 42-year-old assistant supported the lead VAR official at eight games.

British daily The Sun published a video late Wednesday appearing to show Coote snorting the drug using an American banknote.

The report said the incident was filmed one day after Coote’s last match duty, the quarterfinal between France and Portugal. France won a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw.

Altercation between France and Israel fans >> There was a brief altercation between a small number of fans early into Thursday’s Nations League soccer game between France and Israel despite heavy security inside the stadium, a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam in connection with an Israeli club team’s visit.

Around 10 minutes after the game kicked off as scheduled at 8:45 p.m. local time, there was scuffle in the top section of the stand behind one of the goals. It was not clear what caused the altercation and security intervened after around one minute.

French police chief Laurent Nuñez said 4,000 police officers and security staff were deployed in and around the Stade de France, with another 1,500 police on public transport.

Several buses carrying Israel fans arrived under police escort and some were waving flags inside the stadium. Less than 20,000 of 80,000 tickets were sold, with around 150 Israel supporters present.