The men’s singles semifinals will be played on Friday in Melbourne.
Jannik Sinner is just two matches away from his third consecutive hard court Major title. On Friday night, he faces big-hitting Ben Shelton, in the American’s second Major semifinal.
Novak Djokovic is just two matches away from becoming the first player to ever win 25 Majors in singles. On Friday afternoon, he faces second-seeded Alexander Zverev, who is looking to reach his third Major final.
Day 13 also hosts the women’s doubles semifinals, which feature three of the top four seeds. Plus, the mixed doubles championship match will be staged, in an all-Australian affair.
Novak Djokovic (7) vs. Alexander Zverev (2) – Not Before 2:30pm on Rod Laver Arena
This is an astounding 50th Major semifinal for Djokovic, the most by any man in the Open Era. He is 37-12 in this round of a Slam, and until he lost to Sinner in last year’s semifinals, Djokovic was a perfect 20-0 in Australian Open semifinals and finals. But the biggest question mark coming into this semifinal is Novak’s physical condition, as he suffered what is assumed to be a groin injury during his quarterfinal victory over Carlos Alcaraz.
This is a ninth Major semifinal for Zverev, and he’s just 2-6 in this round. Sascha came into this fortnight with an injury concern of his own, after pulling out of the United Cup due to a biceps issue. Yet that has not seemed to impact his play through five rounds, as he’s advanced rather comfortably, dropping only two sets. Last year, in his second failed semifinal appearance in Melbourne, Zverev went down to Daniil Medvedev in five sets despite holding a two-sets-to-love lead.
Djokovic is 8-4 against Zverev, and a perfect 3-0 at Majors. Their last meeting at this level was a highly-competitive five-setter in the 2021 US Open semifinals, a match which left Novak depleted for the final against Medvedev, which was his chance to complete the elusive calendar-year Grand Slam. Djokovic’s injury status is unknown, but we’ve seen him win this event multiple times in the recent past despite suffering a mid-tournament injury. And Sascha has a history of getting tight in big matches, while Novak’s results in Melbourne are surpassed only by Rafael Nadal’s results in Paris. As impressive as Zverev’s serving has been of late, Djokovic remains the best returner of all-time, and should be favored to reach his 11th Australian Open final.
Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Ben Shelton (21) – Not Before 7:30pm on Rod Laver Arena
Sinner played some monstrous tennis in the last round, losing only six games to Alex de Minaur in a completely dominant performance. Dating back to the Cincinnati Masters nearly six months ago, the World No.1 has now taken 34 of his last 35 matches, with his only loss coming in the Beijing final against Carlos Alcaraz in a final-set tiebreak. And Jannik hasn’t lost a match at a hard court Major since the 2023 US Open.
Can Shelton threaten Sinner’s reign on Friday? His explosive power is always a threat, and he’s already survived some tough battles within the first five rounds. But sustaining what will need to be an extraordinarily high level for a sustained period in the best-of-five format against an in-form Sinner is the toughest task the ATP currently has to offer.
While Shelton claimed their first meeting, 15 months ago at the Shanghai Masters, Sinner has claimed the last four. And all four of those victories have come in straight sets. Jannik is a huge favorite to advance to his third Major final.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Kimberly Birrell and John-Patrick Smith (WC) vs. Olivia Gadecki and John Peers (WC) – This is a first Major final for both Birrell and Gadecki, while Smith was the runner-up here in mixed doubles back in 2019, and Peers won the Australian Open men’s doubles title back in 2017.
Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend (1) vs. Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider – Siniakova has clearly become the best women’s doubles player in the world, as she vies for her seventh final out of her last 11 Majors, and she’s 6-0 in recent finals. Her and Townsend teamed up to win Wimbledon just six months ago. Andreeva and Shnaider were silver medalists at the Paris Olympics, and are coming off a title run three weeks ago in Brisbane.
Su-Wei Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko (3) vs. Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe (2) – Dabrowski and Routliffe won the US Open two summers ago, and lost the aforementioned Wimbledon final last summer to Siniakova and Townsend. Su-Wei and Ostapenko are a new partnership for the 2025 season, though each won a Major in women’s doubles last year with different partners.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
