World No.1 Ash Barty will continue her quest for a major title on home soil when she kicks off a bumper day of singles semifinal action at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
Barty will take to Rod Laver Arena from 2pm against 14th seed Sofia Kenin, bidding to become the first local woman to progress to an Australian Open final since Wendy Turnbull did so 40 years ago in 1980, in the tournament’s Kooyong days.
The Queenslander’s progress through the draw has been impressive, with a fourth-round victory over bogey opponent Alison Riske followed by a fourth straight triumph over top-10 stalwart Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals.
Kenin arrived in the semis following a win over trailblazing Tunisian Ons Jabeur, after earlier ending the fairytale run of teen sensation Coco Gauff.
Riding a nine-match winning streak, Barty takes a 4-1 head-to-head series lead into her clash with Kenin, having triumphed in their most recent meeting on the hard courts of Wuhan last September.
In a treat for fans, they can watch both women’s semifinals – played back-to-back – on a Rod Laver Arena day session ticket.
The second semifinal is a blockbuster between two-time major champions and former world No.1s Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza.
MORE: Women’s semifinals: the tale of the tape
After dropping the first set of her Australian Open campaign 6-0 to Shelby Rogers, Muguruza has gathered momentum, powering past top-10 foes Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens without dropping a set in a resurgent fortnight at Melbourne Park.
She has won three of five career meetings with Halep, who on Wednesday routed Anett Kontaveit 6-1 6-1 to continue her dominance at Australian Open 2020, where she is yet to drop a set.
In their last meeting, Halep won 6-1 6-4 in the 2018 Roland Garros semifinals.
As day turns to night, attention turns to the men’s semifinals, and the 50th bout in the storied rivalry between titans Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Federer, a 20-time major champion, has scrapped his way into the semifinals, surviving John Millman in five sets in the third round before saving seven match points to oust Tennys Sandgren in five in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Djokovic, by contrast, has dropped just one set at this year’s Australian Open and took his 2020 record to a perfect 11-0 with a straight-sets win over Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals.
The Serb, bidding for a record-extending eighth title at Melbourne Park, has not lost to Federer at a Grand Slam tournament since 2012, and has won seven of their past 10 meetings.
Elsewhere on Day 11, Australian wildcards Max Purcell and Luke Saville will attempt to win through to the men’s doubles final when they face fourth seeds Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek at 11am at Rod Laver Arena.
The other men’s doubles semifinal will be contested at the same time at Margaret Court Arena, pitting No.11 seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury against Kazakh duo Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin.
Mixed doubles quarterfinal action will follow, before the MCA schedule concludes with the quad wheelchair doubles final, where Australian duo Dylan Alcott and Heath Davidson face Andy Lapthorne and David Wagner.
Legends doubles and junior singles and doubles will take place on the outside courts at Melbourne Park.