By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic will look to ride his good fortune into an 11th Australian Open final but the 10-times champion needs to hit the ground running in a generational semi-final clash with holder Jannik Sinner.
Needing one more major crown to move past Margaret Court and claim the outright record of 25 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic comes into the Sinner showdown as fresh as he could hope to be following walkovers in his previous two matches.
However, the Serb also brings major question marks over his form, having been well beaten in two sets by Lorenzo Musetti before the Italian retired hurt early in the third.
Fourth seed Djokovic, quite simply, was not himself in an error-strewn quarter-final against Musetti, conceding that he had been on his way home until the fifth seed broke down.
Even with the lighter load, the 38-year-old Serb can ill-afford to grant Sinner a head start.
The Italian has won their last five matches and been Djokovic’s semi-final nemesis at the Grand Slams.
Sinner, 24, did not concede a set to Djokovic in the French Open and Wimbledon semis last year, having beaten him in four at Melbourne Park two years ago on the way to his first Grand Slam title.
While the odds are stacked against Djokovic, the Serbian great remains defiant that he is still a contender in the era of the new “big two”, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
“Are they better right now than me and all the other guys? Yes, they are,” he said.
“The quality and the level is amazing. It’s great. It’s phenomenal.
“But does that mean that I walk out with a white flag? No. I’m going to fight until the last shot, until the last point, and do my very best to challenge them.”
Sinner’s 2024 semi-final win over Djokovic at Melbourne Park proved a watershed for the Italian, who has since split all the Grand Slam trophies with Alcaraz.
Barring a four-set scare in the heat against unseeded American Eliot Spizzirri in the third round, second seed Sinner has been a class above, reaching the semis with a straight-sets humbling of eighth seed Ben Shelton.
Having already shattered the Serb’s aura at his most bankable Grand Slam, another win for Sinner could set him up for a Djokovic-esque reign at Melbourne Park.
YOUTH AND POWER COLLIDE
World number one Alcaraz once again looms as Sinner’s biggest spoiler and will meet the Italian in the decider should he beat last year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev in the other semi-final on Friday.
The 22-year-old Spaniard suffered a shock quarter-final loss to Djokovic last year at Melbourne Park but has taken his game to new levels since.
Similar to Sinner’s win over Shelton, Alcaraz made the semi-finals after a crushing win over Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur.
While everyone expected Alcaraz to reach the last four, German Zverev’s presence is something of a surprise given his early exits at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in a mostly underwhelming 2025.
Zverev knocked out American first-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Learner Tien in four sets to set up the Alcaraz matchup and is glad to enter it injury-free.
Thrashed in last year’s final by Sinner, the German was also beaten in the 2024 French Open decider by Alcaraz and needs to bring something different to the table on Friday.
Zverev’s often erratic serve has been in good nick so far and a commitment to being more aggressive has paid off for a player often criticised as being too passive under pressure.
The 28-year-old also has good memories from his last match against Alcaraz at Melbourne Park, when he beat him in four sets in the 2024 quarter-finals.
Two years on, though, Alcaraz is on a higher plane, a six-times Grand Slam champion at the age of 22 eyeing a chance to become the youngest player to complete the career Grand Slam.
“I will be well-prepared for that match, and yeah, if (Zverev) wants to beat me, he has to sweat a lot,” said Alcaraz.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON FRIDAY
Order of play on the 13th day of the Australian Open (prefix number denotes seeding):
ROD LAVER ARENA
Day session (0330 GMT/1430 AEDT)
1-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) v 3-Alexander Zverev (Germany)
Night session (0830 GMT/1930 AEDT)
4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) v 2-Jannik Sinner (Italy)
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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