Phillips makes AO semi-final predictions

An Australian Open men’s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner seems “inevitable”.

That is the opinion of SEN Tennis expert and The First Serve's Brett Phillips who has made his semi-final predictions.

World No.1 Alcaraz meets No.3 Alexander Zverev on Friday while back-to-back champion Sinner takes on 10-time winner Novak Djokovic on the same day.

While Zverev has some chance of causing an upset, in the mind of Phillips it will be 1 (Alcaraz) v 2 (Sinner) playing off in Sunday night’s final.

“Zverev is 6-6 head-to-head with Alcaraz, and Carlos has still got to get there,” Phillips said on SEN Breakfast.

“‘Sascha’ (Zverev) brings things that can trouble any player. He’s a tough one to break, so you’re going to have to go deep in sets with Zverev.

“He can back himself in but whether he can win the ground battles with Carlos who has just got more artillery to go to.

“Despite Djokovic being much fresher than what he’s been in previous semi-finals, maybe it might count against that he hasn’t had enough match play in the second week to really go the distance with Jannik.

“It looks inevitable, no doubt, that we’re going to get the final we expect with Alcaraz and Sinner.”

As for the women’s side, it appears to Phillips that two-time champion and world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka will account for Elena Svitolina in today’s first semi-final.

He then sees Elena Rybakina doing the business against Jess Pegula, but it won't be easy.

“I feel pretty confident that Aryna Sabalenka will get the job done. She’s 5-1 head-to-head with Svitolina who has had a great tournament,” Phillips said.

“But Aryna from here - it’s win the title or bust. That’s the mission she’s come with. She wants to claim another Australian Open title.

“The other one is really interesting. When I think about it the Rybakina game should overpower Jess Pegula, but Pegula is still standing.

“She’s seen off Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova who are superb ball strikers. She’s a little bit different, a bit more crafty.

“I think Sabalenka would love the Pegula matchup far better than the Rybakina matchup who can match her for genuine firepower.

“But Elena (Ryabkina) with that serve will be too much for Pegula to deal with.”

Tune in to SEN for all the AO action live from Melbourne Park.