On Friday in Melbourne, the men’s singles semifinals will be played.
Novak Djokovic is just two matches away from tying Rafael Nadal with 22 Major singles titles, the most-ever in men’s singles. Djokovic is 18-0 in Australian Open semifinals and finals, and hasn’t lost a match in Australia in over five years. Can anyone prevent the nine-time champion from winning this event for a 10th time?
In the semifinals, Djokovic faces Tommy Paul, who prior to this fortnight had never advanced beyond the fourth round at a Major. In the other men’s semifinal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is 0-3 in Australian Open semis, takes on Karen Khachanov, who is into his second semifinal in as many Majors.
Also on Friday, the women’s doubles semifinals will be played, as well as the mixed doubles championship match. The women’s doubles semis include top singles names such as Barbora Krejcikova, Coco Gauff, and Jessica Pegula, while the mixed doubles final will serve as Sania Mirza’s retirement match.
Karen Khachanov (18) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) – Not Before 2:30pm on Rod Laver Arena
Tsitsipas has achieved his fourth semifinal in Australia out of the last five years, but he is yet to advance farther. And he’s only claimed one of 10 sets in his three previous Australian semis, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2019, and Daniil Medvedev in both 2021 and 2022. Stefanos is now a perfect 9-0 in 2023, and has only dropped one set during this fortnight.
Khachanov is into his second consecutive Major semifinal. The 26-year-old is vying for his first Slam final, and his first final at any event in over a year. Karen has dropped two sets through five matches, and has now defeated three straight seeded players (Tiafoe, Nishioka, Korda).
Tsitsipas has dominated their rivalry to date, leading their head-to-head 5-0. Four of those matches were on hard courts, and three of them were straight-set victories for the Greek. As per Tennis Abstract, out of the 13 sets they’ve played, Karen has only managed to break seven times, while Stefanos has broken 17 times. And with plenty of Greek support in the crowd at this event, Tsitsipas is a considerable favorite to reach his second Major final.
Novak Djokovic (4) vs. Tommy Paul – 7:30pm on Rod Laver Arena
Djokovic has claimed 22 of his last 24 sets in Australian Open semifinals and finals, with the only two sets lost both coming in the 2020 final against Dominic Thiem. His domination in the last two rounds of this tournament throughout his career is only rivaled by that of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. Despite the hamstring injury that Novak suffered leading up to this tournament, he has only dropped one set to this stage. In his last six sets, he’s only allowed his opposition an average of two games per set.
Paul has taken advantage of an open quarter of the draw, in which seven of the eight seeds lost within the first two rounds (Ruud, Fritz, Zverev, Berrettini, Schwartzman, Kecmanovic, Davidovich Fokina). Yet even as many pointed to Tommy as the favorite to make the semis amidst younger, inexperienced Americans in this quarter (Brooksby, Wolf, Shelton), Paul did not faulter. The 25-year-old is one of the fastest players on tour, and will debut inside the top 20 on Monday.
In their first career meeting, of course Djokovic is a huge favorite. Prior to this fortnight, Paul had only once reached the second week of a Major, when he advanced to the fourth round six months ago at Wimbledon. As per ESPN’s Brad Gilbert, Novak has beefed up his forehand this fortnight, averaging five mph’s more on that wing than a year ago. And he’s also been serving excellently – Djokovic has only been broken three times in the entire tournament, with all three breaks coming against Grigor Dimitrov.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna vs. Luisa Stefani and Rafael Motos – This is Mirza’s last event before retirement, following a storied doubles career where she has won three Majors in women’s doubles and three Majors in mixed doubles. Her and Mahesh Bhupathi won this event as a team 14 years ago, the first of Sania’s six Slam titles. Bopanna won the mixed doubles event at Roland Garros in 2017. Stefani was a bronze medalist in women’s doubles at the Tokyo Olympics. This is a first Major final for both her and Motos.
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (1) vs. Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse – Krejcikova and Siniakova have won six Majors as a team, three of which came last year, including this tournament. This is Kostyuk and Ruse’s first event as a team since Roland Garros, where they made the quarterfinals.
Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara (10) vs. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula (2) – Gauff and Pegula were finalists at Roland Garros last June. This is Aoyama and Shibahara’s third Major semifinal, but they’re yet to go farther at a Slam.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
