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.

The 18th-ranked Tiafoe, a 26-year-old from Maryland, could have faced a suspension but will not be barred from competing, the tour said.

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.

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.

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.

Baseball

Dodgers’ Valenzuela cause of death revealed >> Fernando Valenzuela, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching ace who helped the team win the 1981 World Series, died of septic shock last month, according to his death certificate.

Valenzuela died on Oct. 22 at age 63, a few weeks after stepping away from his job on the Dodgers’ Spanish-language television broadcast and days before the Dodgers began their run to the team’s eighth World Series championship. No cause of death was provided at the time.