On an unforgettable Friday at Australian Open 2026, both men’s singles semifinals were decided in five sets for the first time at the tournament since 2017.
Novak Djokovic moved one win away from his 25th Grand Slam title and 11th AO crown after producing his vintage best to upset second seed and two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner 3-6 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-4 in a marathon semifinal that ended at 1:32am.
The Serbian world No.4 snapped his winless record in recent major semifinals to advance to his first Grand Slam final since Wimbledon 2024, and prevailed over a dejected Sinner for the first time in six attempts.
In Sunday’s final, Djokovic will face world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, who overcame Alexander Zverev in the longest AO semifinal ever earlier on Friday, propelled to victory by unwavering self-belief. The 22-year-old is chasing history of his own, vying to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.
After the gruelling encounter that pushed both players to their physical limits, Zverev is departing Melbourne Park proud of his performance, admitting: “I had absolutely nothing left in me.”
Earlier at Rod Laver Arena, wildcard pairing Olivia Gadecki and John Peers were crowned AO 2026 mixed doubles champions and became the first team to defend their title since Jana Novotna and Jim Pugh in 1989. As the first Australians to achieve the feat since Margaret Court and Ken Fletcher went back-to-back in 1964, they also guaranteed that the host nation has produced a home-grown titlist in at least one event, a streak dating back to AO 2012.
Australian wildcards Ymerali Ibraimi and Cooper Kose advanced to the junior boys’ doubles final and across both draws of junior singles, six seeds advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, led by boys' third seed Ryo Tabata and girls' third seed Ksenia Efremova.
In wheelchair singles, women’s third seed Li Xiaohui upset top seed Yui Kamiji to reach the final, where she’ll face Diede de Groot, the resurgent Dutchwoman searching for a 24th Grand Slam singles title. Li later teamed up with compatriot Wang Ziyang to secure the women’s wheelchair doubles crown.
Elsewhere, Sam Schroder advanced to the final of the quad wheelchair singles finals, putting the four-time defending champion within reach of a fifth straight AO title. In his path is top seed Niels Vink, who at 23 is vying to complete a career Grand Slam. Vink on Friday teamed up with Guy Sasson to clinch the AO 2026 quad wheelchair doubles title.
In men’s wheelchair singles, third seed Martin De la Puente upset top seed Alfie Hewett and will face second seed Tokito Oda, who is striving to become just the second men’s wheelchair player to win four consecutive major singles titles. Odo teamed up with Gustavo Fernandez to lift the men’s wheelchair doubles title on Friday.
In junior wheelchair doubles, the pairings of Lucas John De Gouveia and Alexander Lantermann, and Lucy Foyster and Seira Matsuoka, earned the boys’ and girls’ doubles AO 2026 titles.