Australian Open: Novak Djokovic denied potential Rafael Nadal final meeting

The Australian Open is fast approaching its climax. While there have been more upsets in the women’s draw with the exit of World No1 and home favourite Ashleigh Barty in the quarter-finals, the men’s singles has some mouthwatering semi-finals, which includes Stefanos Tsitsipas v Daniil Medvedev. We look ahead to the semi-finals across the men’s and women’s singles and doubles and highlight some odds.

Novak Djokovic moves a step closer to ninth title

Despite battling with an abdominal injury, Novak Djokovic has shown near superhuman powers throughout the tournament. The Serbian is eyeing a record-extending ninth title, but standing in his way is the rather unheralded Aslan Karatsev, who is ranked 114th in the world. Karatsev dismantled Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals in four sets, and he will be competing in a maiden Grand Slam semi-final.

As far as Djokovic is concerned, it will be intriguing to see how much his win over Alexander Zverev took out of him as he spent three and a half hours on court. While Djokovic went through the motions, he hit three more winners than Zverev (48). His first-serve percentage was very impressive at 73, and he converted 67% of his breakpoint opportunities.

Daniil Medvedev sets up mouthwatering clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas

Medvedev has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past 18 months, and it almost feels like a matter of time before he gets his hands on a Slam title. After guiding Russia to ATP Cup glory Down Under earlier this month, the 25-year-old is knocking on the door of the ‘Big Three’, which includes Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Stefanos Tsitsipas hoping to come of age in Melbourne

Tsitsipas has had a topsy-turvy past couple of years and while he’s still only 22, he proved his mettle with a blockbuster quarter-final win over Rafael Nadal. The Greek rallied from two sets down to deny the 2009 champion, Nadal. Against Medvedev, it could go either way and Tsitsipas will need to recover quickly if he’s going to reach the Final.

Karolina Muchova meets Jennifer Brady in unlikely semi-final clash

Karolina Muchova isn’t renowned for going deep at Grand Slams, but her quarter-final win over Barty was impressive. She combined finesse and power and finished off a three-set win with aplomb with an ace. There’s only three ranking spots separating Brady and Muchova. Brady is the favourite with Casumo at 1.48 to reach the Australian Open women’s final, with Muchova trading at 2.7.

Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka to renew hostilities

Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka have history and while it isn’t a case of bad blood, there’s still a score to settle. Osaka beat Serena in the 2018 US Open final, but it was remembered for all the wrong reasons as Serena’s meltdown overshadowed the showpiece occasion. On average, Osaka hasn’t spent much more than an hour on court per match.

Only Garbine Muguruza has been Osaka’s stiffest test, which arrived in the fourth round where the Japanese star prevailed in three sets. Although Osaka conceded four double faults and won just 20% of her points at the net, she hit 40 winners, which was almost double that of Mugurza’s tally (24).

• Naomi Osaka to beat Serena Williams and reach the Australian Open women’s final @1.67 with Casumo
• Serena Williams to beat Naomi Osaka and reach the final @2.23 with Casumo

Serena’s agonizing wait for a 24th Grand Slam title continues. The head-to-head record weighs in Osaka’s favour as she leads 2-1, but Serena has to make the tide change sooner rather than later. Serena was assured in her quarter-final victory over Simona Halep and she will need to display outstanding movement like she did against the Romanian to keep Osaka at bay.

Australian Open Men’s Doubles: Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, the dream team once again

Having previously lifted the Australian Open title together in 2016, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares are targeting further success in Melbourne. The pair are priced at 1.83 to see off Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who are seeded fifth. Although Murray and Soares have gone their separate ways before, Soares has never harboured any hard feelings and has likened it to a marriage.

In the other doubles semi-final, Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek have a task on their hands trying to derail the number two seeds and Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic. Croatian duo Pavic and Mektic had to dig deep in their quarter-final tie against Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, as they needed a super tie-breaker in the deciding set (10-3) to book a semi-final spot.

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