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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday January 23, 2024

 
Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic bids to reach his 38th Grand Slam final on Friday in Melbourne, while Jannik Sinner looks to keep title defense hopes alive, as men's semis action kicks off.

Photo Source: Getty

And then there were four. It’s men’s semifinal time down under! Day 13 of the Australian Open will feature both men’s semifinals in Rod Laver night session.

Tennis Express

When the day is done, the men’s final will be set. Scroll down for a closer look at the matchups...

The full Day 13 order of play is here:

Novak Djokovic vs Alexander Zverev
Head-to-Head: Djokovic leads 8-4

There’s something different about watching Novak Djokovic at Melbourne this year. Yes, the 10-time champion is a year older, at 37, but that’s not it. Ah, yes, it’s that Scot in his coaching pod – Andy Murray!

Before the season, the pair teamed up with the goal of making history, and here they are – two wins from another historic #DjokoMoment. The Grand Slam king says that he has developed trust in Murray, and adds that they have grown closer over the course of his run to the semifinals.

“I feel more and more connected with Andy every day,” Djokovic said. “We face challenges every single day. People don't see that obviously. I mean, we try to make the most out of every day and grow together. He's been as committed to my career and this tournament as he can be.”

No doubt Djokovic will be relying on the man who defeated Alexander Zverev in three of their four meetings for valuable insight into Friday’s 13th meeting between Djokovic and Zverev. Djokovic is 3-0 against Zverev at the majors but he has taken some big losses to the German over the years.

Primary Concern? Djokovic's Health

We've seen Djokovic work miracles in Australian before, most notably two years ago in 2023, when Djokovic had an injury that he says was similar to the one he picked up during his quarterfinal with Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday night.

With two days off the hope is that the injury that Djokovic sustained to his upper left leg has had time to heal properly. Here’s what he said about his situation on Tuesday after taking out Carlos Alcaraz in that dramatic quarterfinal.

“It's definitely going to be challenging from every aspect,” said the 24-time major champion. “I'm playing Zverev, who is in great form, and he is going for his first Grand Slam. He's been close. I mean, I've seen him play. I practiced with him as well here. I think he loves the conditions. He's got a big serve. He's super dangerous opponent on this surface against anyone.

"The extra day with no match comes at a good time. Now it's really about recovery. I'm concerned. I am, to be honest, physically. But if I manage somehow to be physically good enough, I think mentally, emotionally I'm as motivated as I can be.”





Those words are Zverev’s cue to draw up a game plan that stretches Djokovic to the forehand side (the one he seemed to be favoring against Alcaraz), but it’s not as easy as it sounds. First, Zverev’s forehand is not his most reliable wing, so he’ll have to do direct traffic with his backhand. Second, we saw how Alcaraz struggled at dealing with Djokovic’s unpredictable game after the Serbian suffered his injury in the first set. Alcaraz didn’t know what to expect, and it took its toll on him mentally and physically.

Add to that the fact that Djokovic is the one player in the world that has all the tools in the world to completely rewrite a game plan when something isn’t working, whether it be due to form or, in this case, injury. There’s no use in overthinking it. Zverev’s best bet would be to recall his four previous victories over Djokovic and rely on them for his plan.

The German has been knocking on the door at the majors of late, but has struggled to win the big one. Here is another test to see if he has what it takes to break through. Labelled the best player to have never won a major for years now, only a title will be good enough for the 27-year-old.

Jannik Sinner vs Ben Shelton
Head-to-Head: Sinner leads 4-1

Jannik Sinner suffered physically during his round of 16 win over Holger Rune, but appeared to be fine during his routine thrashing of Alex de Minaur in his next match. First and foremost: are there any lingering concerns with Sinner or is his issue behind him?

“After the match against Holger we made some blood tests,” the Italian told reporters after defeating De Minaur. “They were all solid, all good. “I'm still not perfect, but I'm not concerned – in a couple of days that I should be fine.”

Barring catastrophic physical ailments, it’s hard to imagine the defending champion getting knocked off his perch in Melbourne. He rides a 19-match winning streak at the hardcourt majors and is 58-3 on the surface since the start of 2024 overall.

Additionally, Sinner has taken four of five against his semifinal opponent Ben Shelton, rebounding from a loss in their first meeting in Shanghai in 2023 with wins in Vienna (2023), Indian Wells (2024), Wimbledon (2024) and Shanghai (2024) in straight sets. That’s nine consecutive sets won by Sinner against the American, but Shelton has forced four tiebreaks in that span.

Shelton has proven to be formidable at the hard court majors, however. The 22-year-old is making his sixth career appearance at a hardcourt Grand Slam, and he upped his record to 18-5 with Wednesday night’s four-set win over Lorenzo Sonego. The bigger the stage, the better Shelton seems to be.

Sinner knows he’ll have his work cut out for him against the hard-serving southpaw.

“One of the biggest serves we have on tour,” he assessed. “He's a very aggressive player, an all-around player. He can go to the net. He can stay back. We have to see, you know, also with the conditions, and then we see.

“It's a difficult match for both of us. We know each other a little bit better now. We had some tough matches in the last year, so let's see what's coming.”




Shelton says he is a different player from the one that reached the quarterfinals on his Australian Open debut in 2023. He’s now got more tools to work with, and a higher tolerance for hanging around in rallies.

It should serve him well on Friday against Sinner.

“For me the differences in my game is when I was playing here in 2023, US Open 2023, I felt like everything had to be perfect,” Shelton said. “I was red-lining. I was at my limits. I was hitting a lot of winners. I was serving amazing. Everything had to fall in line for that to happen, for me to have those runs.

“Lately, especially in the matches here, everything hasn't been perfect. I had one good serving day out of my five matches. I've had to pick up the slack with everything else in my game. I think I'm a much better returner right now than in the past. I'm winning in different ways, for sure.”

Shelton knows he’ll have to be incredibly good to pull the upset of the World No.1, but he won’t be going for broke out there.

“I don't think I'll be redlining,” he said. “I think that a more aggressive game style, that's taking the ball a little earlier or serve and volleying more or taking first ball line and running in instead of, you know, hitting five or six forehands in a row.

“I think that I'm figuring out ways to make guys uncomfortable without just playing at my upper limits and slapping.”

 

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