Australian Open 2026 Men's Semifinal Bracket TV Schedule, Start Time, Live Stream

The top four seeds reached the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in Melbourne since 2013,

Thirteen years ago, Novak Djokovic was the No. 1 seed, but now he is the No. 4 seed trying to play catch up with top seed Carlos Alcaraz and No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic faces Sinner in Friday's semifinals. Sinner is the two-time reigning champion in Melbourne.

Alcaraz squares off with No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev in the other semifinal.

The first men's semifinal begins on Thursday night at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The second semifinal starts at 3:30 a.m. ET on ESPN. Both matches can be live-streamed on the ESPN app or ESPN.com.

No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 3 Alexander Zverev

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Carlos Alcaraz will play in his first Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev.

That's a hard statistic to believe since the top-seeded Spaniard has been a fixture in Grand Slam finals since the 2022 U.S. Open.

Alcaraz looked strong over the first five rounds with five straight-set victories. The form this year in Melbourne is comparable to how he's performed on the New York hard court, where he has two wins and a semifinal appearance since 2022.

If there was a player to prevent Alcaraz from reaching his first Australian Open final, it would be Zverev.

The No. 3 seed owns a 6-6 record against Alcaraz. He beat Alcaraz in four sets in Australia two years ago and five of his six wins in the matchup have come on hard courts.

Zverev is a two-time finalist at hard court majors and likely won't be affected by the pressure that comes with playing Alcaraz.

Alcaraz should be the favorite going into the match, but it feels like Zverev has a better chance to spring an upset than Djokovic.

No. 2 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 4 Novak Djokovic

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Jannik Sinner is two wins away from claiming his third consecutive title in Melbourne.

The second-seeded Italian has only lost one set so far in the tournament. He looked in control for all of his quarterfinal match with Ben Shelton, his toughest opponent yet.

Sinner also owns the head-to-head advantage against Djokovic. He's 6-4 against the Serbian and won the last five meetings between him and the 24-time major winner.

Djokovic is partially lucky to be in the semifinals. He was down two sets to Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals before the Italian was forced to retire from the match with an injury.

Djokovic did not play in the fourth round due to an injury to Jakub Mensik, so in theory, he should be rested for the semifinal showdown with Sinner.

However, Djokovic did not play well in the first two sets against Musetti, a sign that he might be overwhelmed by Sinner on Friday.

You should never count out Djokovic, especially in Melbourne where he's won 10 times, but it feels like Sinner has the decided edge in the matchup.