The 2025 Australian Open men’s singles semifinal matchups have been set. It will be Ben Shelton vs. Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev vs. Novak Djokovic.
Tennis fans wanting to see a maiden Grand Slam champion wonder if there is a chance for a Ben Shelton vs. Alexander Zverev final. It is possible but not likely.
Why Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic will probably be dueling for the title
- Sinner is trying to go back-to-back in Melbourne, especially with his 2025 availability in question with the WADA expected to rule on his case.
- Djokovic is willing himself to that elusive 25th Grand Slam title. Though he does not need this title to cement his G.O.A.T. status, he is motivated to get it. This would be his 11th Australian Open title.
- With no disrespect to Zverev who is World No. 2, it feels like the best two players in men’s tennis right now are Sinner and Djokovic.
- Shelton is young and improving his game in all the right ways to be a Grand Slam champion, but it may take more time. That won’t stop American fans from cheering for him to do it at the 2025 Australian Open.
Shelton and Zverev are fighting their own battles
Zverev is back in the semifinals at AO! pic.twitter.com/ccIosHz7Ub
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) January 21, 2025
- Zverev is the best men’s player to never win a Grand Slam. He is a two-time Grand Slam finalist. Had he not suffered that catastrophic ankle injury in the French Open semifinals in 2022 against Rafael Nadal that effectively ended his 2022 season six months early, who knows if he would have already achieved this goal?
- Shelton is the latest American man trying to lift the curse for USA men in the Grand Slams. Andy Roddick is the last American man to win a Grand Slam (2003 US Open) when Shelton was less than a year old. Taylor Fritz could not lift the dark cloud at the 2024 US Open against Jannik Sinner so now it’s Shelton’s turn. His road to glory would include taking out Sinner and either Zverev or Djokovic. Shelton has one win in five attempts against Sinner dating back to 2023. He lost his only meeting with Djokovic in the 2023 US Open semifinals.
First AO SF for Ben Shelton who is still *only* 22 years old.
He faces an almost impossible task of taking down (probably) Jannik Sinner next, but it’s a massive chance to take a huge leap forward.
Regardless of the result, he still has lots of time to keep improving. pic.twitter.com/CUt5dFn67X
— Swish 🍒 Tennis (@Zwxsh) January 22, 2025
Sinner and Djokovic have dealt with physical issues at this year’s Australian Open. Sinner was physically ill during his match with Holger Rune. Djokovic injured his hamstring in his match with Carlos Alcaraz. Their physical conditions going into the semifinals are something that could impact the outcome of the matches.
