The men’s singles semifinals are on Friday in Melbourne.
10-time and defending champion Novak Djokovic is a combined 20-0 in Australian Open semifinals and finals. But on Friday, he faces Jannik Sinner, who at the end of 2023 defeated Djokovic twice in singles, as well as once in doubles.
Friday’s other ATP semifinal features two players who do not get along, with their dislike made extremely public of late, as Daniil Medvedev takes on Sascha Zverev.
Day 13 also features the second women’s doubles semifinal, with the winners to face Su-Wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens in the final. In addition, the mixed doubles championship match will be played, which also includes Su-Wei.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Jannik Sinner (4) – Not Before 2:30pm on Rod Laver Arena
Two months ago, these players met four times across singles and doubles within a two-week period. At the ATP Finals, Sinner outlasted Djokovic in an over three-hour three-setter during round robin play, but Novak avenged that loss a few days later in the championship match, winning in straights. The next week in the Davis Cup finals, Jannik again defeated Novak in three sets, and later that same day, defeated him on the doubles court as well. Djokovic had claimed their previous three meetings, on grass and clay, so he leads their head-to-head 4-2 in singles.
Novak’s perfect record of 20-0 in Australian Open semis and finals is rivaled only by Rafael Nadal’s record of 28-1 in Roland Garros semis and finals, which at one time stood at 26-0. Overall Djokovic is 36-11 in Major semis, and has won his last 12, as well as 22 of his last 23, a stretch which dates back nine years. That is mind-boggling.
The 24-time Major champ arrived in Melbourne with a wrist injury, and having lost his first match in Australia since 2018, against Alex de Minaur in the United Cup. And while Novak’s form was less than stellar in his first two matches, he has played himself into form as the tournament progressed, as he usually does. He’s dropped three sets to this stage, most recently winning a four-setter against Taylor Fritz in the last round. Djokovic struggled with the heat during that match, and though this match is also scheduled during the afternoon, the temperature is forecast to be much cooler on Friday.
No man has played better through five rounds than Sinner, who has claimed all 15 sets he’s contested. This is a second Major semifinal for the 22-year-old, having lost his first in straight sets to Djokovic six months ago at Wimbledon. But Jannik has taken his game to another level these past six months, with a record of 32-4, and three titles, including his first at the Masters 1000 level.
The big question on Friday is this: can Sinner replicate his recent success against Djokovic when playing best-of-five instead of best-of-three, and at the event Novak has never lost a semifinal or final? Until someone breaks that streak, Djokovic must be considered the favorite.
Daniil Medvedev (3) vs. Sascha Zverev (6) – Not Before 7:30pm on Rod Laver Arena
This has been the sport’s most prolific rivalry of the past several years, and it’s been quite a bitter one. Medvedev leads 11-7 overall, and 9-7 on hard courts. Zverev had won their first four meetings, but Medvedev has now won 10 of their last 12, and went 5-1 against Zverev in 2023. Amazingly, their nineteenth encounter will be their first at a Major.
Last April in Monte Carlo, proceedings became especially contentious between these two. Zverev felt a mid-set Medvedev toilet break was pure gamesmanship, and after losing the match, he referred to Daniil as “one of the most unfair players in the world.” Their 2023 rivalry was recently featured in Netflix’s “Break Point,” with Sascha portrayed as the protagonist returning from a serious ankle injury, and Daniil the villain.
Notably, there was no mention of the domestic violence allegations against Zverev, for which he will stand trial in May. And there’s another layer of personal beef between these two players. Olga Sharypova, who made separate allegations of domestic abuse against Zverev, is a close friend of Medvedev’s wife, Dasha.
On the tennis court, these players have struggled to reach this semifinal. Both men have played 21 sets, including two five-setters each. Zverev won two fifth-set tiebreaks earlier in the tournament, but played his best tennis of the fortnight in the last round, eliminating Carlos Alcaraz in four sets.
On the same day, Medvedev contested a four-hour five-setter against Hurbert Hurkacz, and unlike Sascha who played at night, Daniil played during the heat of the afternoon. After the match, Medvedev proclaimed “I am so destroyed right now.” And considering Daniil’s other five-setter during the first week went until almost 4:00am local time, he will surely be less than 100% physically in this semifinal. Most players never fully recover from such a late finish to win the event.
Medvedev is 5-2 in Major semis, and 2-0 in Melbourne. Zverev is a meager 1-5, with his only victory coming during the 2020 US Open in an empty stadium, where he came back from a two-set deficit against another player who had never reached a Major final, Pablo Carreno Busta. But considering how physically drained Medvedev will likely be on Friday, especially with only one day’s rest, a Zverev victory would not be surprising despite their shared and individual history.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Su-Wei Hsieh and Jan Zielinski (3) vs. Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski (2) – This is a first mixed doubles final for Su-Wei and Zielinski, while Krawczyk has won four Majors in mixed doubles within the past years, two of which came with Skupski as her partner.
Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko (11) vs. Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe (4) – Kichenok and Ostapenko are vying for their first Major final as a team, after losing two Major semifinals in 2022. Dabrowski and Routliffe are looking to win their second consecutive Major after winning their first in New York.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
