Australian Open
Australian Open Men’s semi-finals preview
As we enter the final stages of the Australian Open 2024, we have two blockbuster semi-finals to look forward to in the men’s singles, with Novak Djokovic eyeing up his 11th title in this competition.
We preview both semi-final matches below.
William Hill Tennis Competition Odds
Novak Djokovic (1) vs Jannik Sinner (4)
We really do have the cream of the crop in these two semi-finals matches to decide who will go into this year’s final of the Australian Open, with four of the top six ATP-rated players taking part.
Arguably the most highly anticipated match of all the semi-finals is that of 10-time Australian Open winner and world number one Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, who currently sits at number four in the world rankings. The pair have met on the court six times in the past, and Djokovic leads the rivalry at four games to two, with their most recent clash being won by Sinner at the finals of the Davis Cup late last year.
Djokovic breezed past American Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals, winning the game three sets to one, only dropping 5 games in the final two sets. Djokovic has proven himself to be the best player of all time and will be looking for success in Australia for an eleventh time to make it 25 career Grand Slams and further his record. Although he hasn’t looked to be 100% in the competition thus far, Novak can never be written off and has had a relatively easy ride despite this.
Italy’s Jannik Sinner has also been sensational so far this tournament, beating world number five Andrey Rublev in straight sets despite having visible niggles on court when he clutched his stomach at times. This semi-final is certainly worthy of being a final in its own right, and Sinner’s best chance at success will be to get out of the blocks firing as early as possible as going behind to anyone in a regular game can be difficult, let alone against the world number one.
The betting certainly favours Novak Djokovic at 4/9, with Sinner not written off at 7/4. The match will be a huge physical and mental battle as these two players are more than capable of pulling something special out of the bag.
Daniil Medvedev (3) vs Alexander Zverev (6)
This semi-final is another interesting one. There’s one key name missing from both games and that is Carlos Alcaraz for this side of the draw, who Alexander Zverev managed to dismiss in four sets in the quarterfinal. This fantastic display earnt Zverev his place in the semis against Medvedev, who beat Hubert Hurkacz in a gruelling five-set thriller.
Despite this being an unlikely semi-final with the absence of Alcaraz, the world numbers three and six have an insane history on the court, meeting 18 times in the past across all competitions, six of which took place last year! Medvedev however does have the superior record, winning five of those last six games.
For those who watched Zverev’s performance against Alcaraz, they will know that this will be by no means an easy ride for Medvedev – that win has thrown all preconceptions of this matchup off-kilter. Should both players be on their A-game, we should strap ourselves in for five sets of high-octane action as Medvedev looks for his second Grand Slam title and Zverev his first.
Ahead of the clash, Medvedev does have the edge at 8/13 whilst Zverev sits at 13/10, but if Zverev can find his serve again like he did in the quarter-final, then those odds start to look pretty tasty! William Hill are also offering a special Enhanced Odds price of 11/1 for both Djokovic and Medvedev to win in straight sets and head into the final.
