Coco Gauff is through to her first-ever Austalian Open semi

The GIST: The women’s and men’s semifinals are officially set Down Under, highlighted by two defending champs eager to retain their crown. And you thought Break Point was dramatic.

Women’s: No. 4 Coco Gauff is through to her first-ever Aussie Open semi, where she’ll face a familiar foe: reigning champion No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka — a rematch of the 2023 US Open, which Gauff won in three sets to claim her first major title.

• Undefeated in 2024, the American fan-favorite is approaching today’s tomorrow’s 3:30 a.m. ET battle with excitement and caution, hoping she “got the bad match out of the way” in the quarter-finals, where she made an uncharacteristic 51 unforced errors. Sabalenka, on the other hand, has yet to drop a set this tourney and is eager for revenge against the 19-year-old.

• Over on the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Iga Świątek’s (pronounced sh-fee-ON-tek) early exit has left a clear path for others to make their best Grand Slam runs yet. Today’s second semis match will be a battle of first-time major semifinalists, as Dayana Yastremska faces No. 12 Qinwen Zheng.

Men’s: After defeating America’s last male hope, No. 12 Taylor Fritz, in the quarter-finals yesterday, No. 1 Novak Djokovic advanced to his 11th Australian Open semi — tomorrow’s battle with No. 4 Jannik Sinner. Twenty-two-year-old Sinner is coming in hot: not only has he won every match of the tourney in straight sets, he also beat Djokovic at the Davis Cup in November 2023.

• But this semis showdown is Djokovic’s to lose: Every time he’s won his Aussie Open quarter-final match, he’s gone on to win the title. Sheesh.

• The other men’s semifinal will see No. 3 Daniil Medvedev take on the winner of No. 6 Alexander Zverev vs. No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who are playing as we send this.