Australian Open Draw 2026 - Sinner vs Djokovic semi, Alcaraz vs Zverev semi

TennisGrandpA said:
BS, you have been cheering for your idol Carlos , will you be happy if Sinner destroys Carlos?
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In reality, given the current state of the tour, they are achieving results above their usual standards.
There is no quality rival that can compete with them on equal terms.
8-B
 
RossiBhoy said:
I’m the same but Sinner to win it, I really don’t get this hoping either don’t make it to final. Not wanting the 2 best in the world to battle it for the title is madness.
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Not at all. Sameness is boring...different is good for the sport. Bring other names to the forefront.
 
ND-13 said:
Djokovic will need to play out of his skin to avoid going on a 0-8 streak against Sinner.

Lost multiple times at Wimb to Alcaraz, He wouldn't want to lose multiple times to Sinner at AO.
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Djokovic vs 14+ years younger top players
(Alcaraz, Sinner, Rune, Musetti, Shelton, Mensik) - 24-14 - 63.2%

Federer vs 12+ years younger top players
(Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rublev, Fritz) - 12-12 - 50%

You celebrating Djokovic losing to 14+ years younger ATGs on a daily basis has to be one of the most pathetic things I've seen on here with all this considered. He could lose 17 times in a row to Sinner like Connors did to Lendl and it still isn't bringing Federer's records back.
 
NoleFam said:
Djokovic vs 14+ years younger top players
(Alcaraz, Sinner, Rune, Musetti, Shelton, Mensik) - 24-14 - 63.2%

Federer vs 12+ years younger top players
(Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rublev, Fritz) - 12-12 - 50%

You celebrating Djokovic losing to 14+ years younger ATGs on a daily basis has to be one of the most pathetic things I've seen on here with all this considered. He could lose 17 times in a row to Sinner like Connors did to Lendl and it still isn't bringing Federer's records back.
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Its like, let it go dude, everyone has gone home, the theater is shut, the movie ending isn't changing if you watch it again.
 
NoleFam said:
Great analogy and absolutely. My gosh, he and posters like him should be tired of this charade by now.
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Too much unhealthy emotional investment in the slam race.

I mean think about it, if the numbers don't mean anything, then why are you so bent out of shape. You should be at peace. It is because the numbers do mean a lot, is why this constant agitation exists.
 
Hitman said:
Too much unhealthy emotional investment in the slam race.

I mean think about it, if the numbers don't mean anything, then why are you so bent out of shape. You should be at peace. It is because the numbers do mean a lot, is why this constant agitation exists.
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Yes this and it's annoying. Too much unhealthy emotional investment and too much negativity. This is why I think I will take longer breaks from the site in between Slams. They suck all the joy out of the site.

They mean a ton and they know it. That's why they are bitter and unhappy.
 
NoleFam said:
Yes this and it's annoying. Too much unhealthy emotional investment and too much negativity. This is why I think I will take longer breaks from the site in between Slams. They suck all the joy out of the site.

They mean a ton and they know it. That's why they are bitter and unhappy.
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I took a break for two months, as you know, come back and see nothing has changed. LOL Bitterness everywhere.

I might take another one again soon also.
 
Hitman said:
I took a break for two months, as you know, come back and see nothing has changed. LOL Bitterness everywhere.

I might take another one again soon also.
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It won't change until Djokovic retires. Then I guess they will go to the retired pro section to rehash the past but at least the general discussion section will get better.

I think I will take one after the AO.
 
Hitman said:
Fonseca is the third man.
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No. While talented, he still needs to grow and take strides. Still a teenager and has the talent to be if he develops to his ceiling.
I also don’t know where a lot of people claim there’s a hype train. Identifying his talent is one thing, but no one I’ve seen has said he’s the 3rd guy (except you lol ) or that he’s winning a slam in 2026 …
 
Hitman said:
Too much unhealthy emotional investment in the slam race.

I mean think about it, if the numbers don't mean anything, then why are you so bent out of shape. You should be at peace. It is because the numbers do mean a lot, is why this constant agitation exists.
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It was a CHASE.

The media wrongly called it a race.

A race starts from a same point, that means players must be of the same peer group.

You could say that Djokovic was racing with Nadal and was lagging behind, overtook him.

Federer was already anointed goat and his race was with Hewitt/Roddick/Safin/Nalby etc, he won his race, then got chased.
 
NoleFam said:
Djokovic vs 14+ years younger top players
(Alcaraz, Sinner, Rune, Musetti, Shelton, Mensik) - 24-14 - 63.2%

Federer vs 12+ years younger top players
(Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rublev, Fritz) - 12-12 - 50%

You celebrating Djokovic losing to 14+ years younger ATGs on a daily basis has to be one of the most pathetic things I've seen on here with all this considered. He could lose 17 times in a row to Sinner like Connors did to Lendl and it still isn't bringing Federer's records back.
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Federer never had a 0-7 streak to youngsters or lose multiple times at majors to same youngsters

Regardless why are we comparing with Federer ? Djokovic is the apparent GOAT, he should be subjected to higher standards
 
ChrisJR3264 said:
No. While talented, he still needs to grow and take strides. Still a teenager and has the talent to be if he develops to his ceiling.
I also don’t know where a lot of people claim there’s a hype train. Identifying his talent is one thing, but no one I’ve seen has said he’s the 3rd guy (except you lol ) or that he’s winning a slam in 2026 …
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I will call him the third man, because someone has to. :)
 
Razer said:
It was a CHASE.

The media wrongly called it a race.

A race starts from a same point, that means players must be of the same peer group.

You could say that Djokovic was racing with Nadal and was lagging behind, overtook him.

Federer was already anointed goat and his race was with Hewitt/Roddick/Safin/Nalby etc, he won his race, then got chased.
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It ultimately doesn't matter whether it is called a slam race or a slam chase, what matters is who holds the records.
 
Razer said:
And why would some random guy taking out top players be good for the sport ?
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Because depth and the occassional upset, not just top dogs, add to the narrative.

If it happens all the time, then it is just chaos. If it happens sometimes, it becomes a great story.

Baghy's run (decades ago now) received great press for a reason. Soderling was also quite a story.
 
ND-13 said:
Federer never had a 0-7 streak to youngsters or lose multiple times at majors to same youngsters

Regardless why are we comparing with Federer ? Djokovic is the apparent GOAT, he should be subjected to higher standards
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None of those guys listed that he played were ATGs yet he had a barely passable record against them. Also, Djokovic is 0-5 against Sinner in the last 5 matches like Federer was 0-5 against Thiem and Zverev in the last 5 matches he played against them, and neither one of them were an ATG.

Your bitterness is about Federer right? You don't think Djokovic is the GOAT and definitely think Federer is better than him, so instead of spamming the site non-stop with Djokovic's record against Sincaraz, why don't you talk about Federer's record against the much younger players he played against? 12-12 is even generous since I included Fritz who wasn't ranked above #50 in any of their matches. Remove him and it's 10-12.
 
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Razer said:
Yes.

In a decade or 2.

If Sinner-Raz don't then someone else will.
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One day it will happen, and the next GOAT will be crowned and then people will say, well they didn't play so and so....you never win. This is why I always say that GOAT doesn't exist, that is my opinion, but I know someone feel there has to be a GOAT.
 
Hitman said:
One day it will happen, and the next GOAT will be crowned and then people will say, well they didn't play so and so....you never win. This is why I always say that GOAT doesn't exist, that is my opinion, but I know someone feel there has to be a GOAT.
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Hitman, I never can consider Djokovic the GOAT and there is a reason for this.

It is not like I dont want to give him credit, I actually do want to. But the problem is, the perception of greatness has to be created in the 20s itself, if in Novak's 20s I never felt he was gonna chased down Federer / his wins never looking that imposing on everyone then how can I suddenly mould my mind into believing he is better than Federer now just because of his wins over 90s gen? It just does not look organic, in Fed's case we in the mid 2000s itself felt he was better than pete, so it was not a problem to accept him in 09 as the solo slams record holder because we knew that was coming. Thats the problem here. In the case of Nadal, had he ended up with 24-25 slams then we would have been more compelled to consider him the GOAT because he even challenged Federer in some big matches in the 2000s, so there is a more compelling argument here.

If you tell me that the GOAT title is merely an acknowledgement of who the slams leader is, then we could definitely acknowledge it that Djoko is the leader now, but is he better player because of more numbers ? Too late for that, that perception had to be created between 2008-2016.
 
Razer said:
Hitman, I never can consider Djokovic the GOAT and there is a reason for this.

It is not like I dont want to give him credit, I actually do want to. But the problem is, the perception of greatness has to be created in the 20s itself, if in Novak's 20s I never felt he was gonna chased down Federer then how can I suddenly mould my mind into believing he is better than Federer now just because of his wins over 90s gen? It just does not look organic, in Fed's case we in the mid 2000s itself felt he was better than pete, so it was not a problem to accept him in 09 as the solo slams record holder because we knew that was coming. Thats the problem here. In the case of Nadal, had he ended up with 24-25 slams then we would have been more compelled to consider him the GOAT because he even challenged Federer in some big matches in the 2000s, so there is a more compelling argument here.

If you tell me that the GOAT title is merely an acknowledgement of who the slams leader is, then we could definitely acknowledge it that Djoko is the leader now, but is he better player because of more numbers ? Too late for that, that perception had to be created between 2008-2016.
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There is an understanding also that Federer didn't have any ATG that were five or six years older than him, and no ATG from his own generation. Sampras was ten years older when he played him and was a year from retiring. Federer never beat Agassi until Agassi was 32 years of age, and Agassi is 11 years older than him.

So during his 20s, Federer had a clean path, for a while where he was able to rack up slams very quickly. His issue came after he was already in double digit slams, when he beat Nadal at W 2007 for slam 11. Nadal had become more than a clay courter at that point, and Djokovic joined a few months later.

Djokovic in his 20s had to deal with Federer and Nadal both in dominant positions, his start was unquestionably the toughest of the three, even if you say the ending was easier for him, his start was hardest, he did what no one else could do, he ended the Fedal duopoly.

Now, you are entitled to your opinion, but ask yourself, what would Federer really achieve, if Sampras and Agassi were not 10 but only 5 years older than him, as that is the generation gap.

For me, as you know I keep it simple, all titles and wins matter, and Djokovic is the one who has the strongest claim now.
 
Hitman said:
There is an understanding also that Federer didn't have any ATG that were five or six years older than him, and no ATG from his own generation. Sampras was ten years older when he played him and was a year from retiring. Federer never beat Agassi until Agassi was 32 years of age, and Agassi is 11 years older than him.

So during his 20s, Federer had a clean path, for a while where he was able to rack up slams very quickly. His issue came after he was already in double digit slams, when he beat Nadal at W 2007 for slam 11. Nadal had become more than a clay courter at that point, and Djokovic joined a few months later.

Djokovic in his 20s had to deal with Federer and Nadal both in dominant positions, his start was unquestionably the toughest of the three, even if you say the ending was easier for him, his start was hardest, he did what no one else could do, he ended the Fedal duopoly.

Now, you are entitled to your opinion, but ask yourself, what would Federer really achieve, if Sampras and Agassi were not 10 but only 5 years older than him, as that is the generation gap.

For me, as you know I keep it simple, all titles and wins matter, and Djokovic is the one who has the strongest claim now.
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Do you seriously think an ATG 5-6 years older could have inflicted any real dent on Federer's slam count ? Remember this is not A Federer vs Djokovic scenario, both Fed and Novak are a bit from the modern baseline era, the string tech they played with, their decline in 30s being slow, lot of things do work in sync... but the guy who is 5-6 years older to Federer would have been 1975-76 born like Tim Henman/Philipoussis/Kuerten, these guys were less fitter than Fed's age group and Fed's age group was less fit than Nole's age group for a reason, the evolution of tennis was such that Fed had an advantage over those 5-6 years older to him in a way that Nole had over Fed, maybe even to a greater degree I must say. Thats why I don't think someone 5-6 years older at 28 years old was ever gonna do any dent to Fed at 22-23 who was on an uptrend while the older guy would be on a downtrend and having to change racuqets to adapt, just not happening.
'
Same aged ATG is a legit argument, someone like that could have taken lot of slams from Federer but someone like that would have made life for Djoko-dal harder too, at least until the early-mid 2010s.

Had Sampras-Agassi been 5-6 years older only, even then Fed would have wo bulk of the slams from 2004, see Pete declined a lot after 1998, isn't it ? Do the same math for 5-6 years after that, now 1998 for Pete would be his 2003, he would have to adapt to new strings, something he did not want to do. I dont think this benefits Pete at all, Fed could lose a slam or 2 but Pete loses more.

Djokovic had it super hard in his 20s, agreed, but some of his problems was also because he was not good enough. Look at HCs, Novak started blasting through everyone at the AO and his dominance was never in doubt. Why is that? Because HCs are his surface and he really is great on that. However if you look at Grass, this is a surface where Nole is struggling in his 20s because he was actually bad (ATG standards) on this surface until Boris Becker became his mentor. You cannot blame competition for this, that alone was not the problem on Grass. On Clay, Nadal was there, we can agree that was an uphill battle always but not on Grass, that surface Nole's problems were because of his own shortcomings. At the US open too he lost plenty in that 12-14 period, can that be blamed on hard competition alone? Would a 10 year gap between him and Fed have helped Nole vs Murray/Nishikori? Surely not, and these are not great ATG players, these are players like Roddick/Hewitt types.
 
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Razer said:
Do you seriously think an ATG 5-6 years older could have inflicted any real dent on Federer's slam count ? Remember this is not A Federer vs Djokovic scenario, both Fed and Novak are a bit from the modern baseline era, the string tech they played with, their decline in 30s being slow, lot of things do work in sync... but the guy who is 5-6 years older to Federer would have been 1975-76 born like Tim Henman/Philipoussis/Kuerten, these guys were less fitter than Fed's age group and Fed's age group was less fit than Nole's age group for a reason, the evolution of tennis was such that Fed had an advantage over those 5-6 years older to him in a way that Nole had over Fed, maybe even to a greater degree I must say. Thats why I don't think someone 5-6 years older at 28 years old was ever gonna do any dent to Fed at 22-23 who was on an uptrend while the older guy would be on a downtrend and having to change racuqets to adapt, just not happening.
'
Same aged ATG is a legit argument, someone like that could have taken lot of slams from Federer but someone like that would have made life for Djoko-dal harder too, at least until the early 2010s.

Had Sampras-Agassi been 5-6 years older only, even then Fed would have wo bulk of the slams from 2004, see Pete declined a lot after 1998, isn't it ? Do the same math for 5-6 years after that, now 1998 for Pete would be his 2003, he would have to adapt to new strings, something he did not want to do. I dont think this benefits Pete at all, Fed could lose a slam or 2 but Pete loses more.

Djokovic had it super hard in his 20s, agreed, but some of his problems was also because he was not good enough. Look at HCs, Novak started blasting through everyone at the AO and his dominance was never in doubt. Why is that? Because HCs are his surface and he really is great on that. However if you look at Grass, this is a surface where Nole is struggling in his 20s because he was actually bad (ATG standards) on this surface until Boris Becker became his mentor. You cannot blame competition for this, that alone was not the problem on Grass. On Clay, Nadal was there, we can agree that was an uphill battle always but not on Grass, that surface Nole's problems were because of his own shortcomings. At the US open too he lost plenty in that 12-14 period, can that be blamed on hard competition alone? Would a 10 year gap between him and Fed have helped Nole vs Murray/Nishikori? Surely not, and these are not great ATG players, these are players like Roddick/Hewitt types.
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Put Sampras and Agassi from when they were 25-26 in there with 21 year Federer and you will see for yourself. Federer isn't winning all those slams, some of them, absolutely, all of them? Not in my book.

The way the world sees it though is whoever wins the most is seen as greater.

Even many of Federer's peers are calling Djokovic the GOAT. Roddick says it, Nalbandian recently said it, and just now Safin said it. Both Sampras and Agassi have said it. Ultimately all of them only see wins and records, they don't do all this breakdown analysis because they simply feel they don't need to. To them, whoever wins the most is the greatest irrespective of when they win it. No one cares that a 31 year old is the only player to win a CYGS in the open era, no one devalues it because it wasn't won in the peak years.
 
NoleFam said:
None of those guys listed that he played were ATGs yet he had a barely passable record against them. Also, Djokovic is 0-5 against Sinner in the last 5 matches like Federer was 0-5 against Thiem and Zverev in the last 5 matches he played against them, and neither one of them were an ATG.

Your bitterness is about Federer right? You don't think Djokovic is the GOAT and definitely think Federer is better than him, so instead of spamming the site non-stop with Djokovic's record against Sincaraz, why don't you talk about Federer's record against the much younger players he played against? 12-12 is even generous since I included Fritz who wasn't ranked above #50 in any of their matches. Remove him and it's 10-12.
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Again, I dont know why you are hung up about Federer. He belongs to Former pro player section. Let us stick to active players.
 
ND-13 said:
Again, I dont know why you are hung up about Federer. He belongs to Former pro player section. Let us stick to active players.
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The problem with Federer - Djokovic discussions is that often we have the public look at what came before and ask why that is trailing what came affterwards, they don't weigh the fact that what came afterwards had the advantage of knowing the past but the past never had the advantage of knowing the future. Federer never knew 24 would be the slam count today, maybe he would have not taken his foot off the pedal a little bit after 2009 if he knew this ? Plenty of these things escape the understanding of Nolefams because they think the comparison is level like they compare Djokovic vs Nadal they think Fed too can be compared directly ignoring the age gap and hence many things that come with it.
 
NoleFam said:
Djokovic vs 14+ years younger top players
(Alcaraz, Sinner, Rune, Musetti, Shelton, Mensik) - 24-14 - 63.2%

Federer vs 12+ years younger top players
(Thiem, Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rublev, Fritz) - 12-12 - 50%

You celebrating Djokovic losing to 14+ years younger ATGs on a daily basis has to be one of the most pathetic things I've seen on here with all this considered. He could lose 17 times in a row to Sinner like Connors did to Lendl and it still isn't bringing Federer's records back.
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Djokovic is a washed up bum. Sinner has been annihilating him. It’s not even worth watching especially considering how ****ty Djokovic's passive game is to watch. After the end of this year hopefully this will be the last we hear from both of you.
 
Hitman said:
Put Sampras and Agassi from when they were 25-26 in there with 21 year Federer and you will see for yourself. Federer isn't winning all those slams, some of them, absolutely, all of them? Not in my book.

The way the world sees it though is whoever wins the most is seen as greater.

Even many of Federer's peers are calling Djokovic the GOAT. Roddick says it, Nalbandian recently said it, and just now Safin said it. Both Sampras and Agassi have said it. Ultimately all of them only see wins and records, they don't do all this breakdown analysis because they simply feel they don't need to. To them, whoever wins the most is the greatest irrespective of when they win it. No one cares that a 31 year old is the only player to win a CYGS in the open era, no one devalues it because it wasn't won in the peak years.
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Fed won his first slam at close to 22, so if Pete is 6 years older then it means he is 28, this means we are talking of 1999 Wimbledon Pete in place of Philippoussis ... Ok, Pete could best 2003 Federer, but then the next year 2004 Fed faces 2000 Pete, Fed beats him on Grass this time and also beats him in New York because Safin did beat Pete in New York in real time, if Safin can then the Federer who doubled bageled Hewitt will also do it. 2001 Pete vs 2005 Federer is even worse for Pete because he does not beat Federer anywhere now, not even in new york.

So that's it, Pete beats Federer at 1 Slam I.e 2003 Wimbledon

You have to agree that Agassi is not in this timeline as 5-6 years older because if Djokovic only had 1 ATG older to him in 6 years range then Federer should also have only Pete.

Now if you want to do the iteration with Agassi and not Pete then Agassi probably win an AO maybe, nothing else..

So that's what I meant, older ATG cannot do any real damage, taking 1 Slam from Federer is possible, not more for a 6 years older ATG, only a same aged one can do some real damage....nobody else. Also same aged ATG makes it harder for Djokodal below and so some slams below could trickle down from these guys to Fed and that ATG...
 
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DSH said:
I don't have "hero", unlike others.
May the best player win.
8-B
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Lol right?
“Your hero”
“You’ve been a Carlos fan”

Like who is obsessed with one person to the point they have a GQ photo of the guy as their profile picture ?
“Please send help”

:-D
 
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dking68 said:
In his last 3 majors he got his ass handed to him by Sinner/Alcaraz and it’s not even close. Once it reaches the 2hr 30 minute mark he fades big time. He can’t beat them ever again. Too much intensity
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Novak is still making semis.
You’re just mad bc you’re so called “famous ability to predict slams” were incorrect when he didn’t lose week 1 in 2025 lol ;)

He’s 38. Novak has spoken into the struggle at his age to recover from matches as the tournament progresses. Injuries occur a lot more often now than did in the past.
The fact he’s still deep into week 2 of slams at his age is pretty darn good. The Big 3 are a rare breed , whether you love them or hate them, have to respect them. They aged like fine wines.
 
Terenigma said:
Man when you look at the draw, It really highlights how weak the tour is. I can see like... 5 names at most that are the "potential upsets" for Sinner/Alcaraz and even those have question marks when Djokovic is one of them. Overall though, it does feel like Alcaraz has the stronger draw up to and including Zverev because, Assuming they both get there, I could see that match being one of the matches of the tournament if both are in form.

I don't know where people are getting that Alcaraz has an easier draw, to me his looks harder. A big chunk of that is likely having to go through Zverev but he also has the recently in-form FAA and Bublik too whereas Sinner's is inflated by 38 year old Djokovic, Unproven back issues Fonseca and "I will try to get to their level" Musetti.
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I barely watch tennis anymore but occasionally I misclick in the search bar and I go to the live ATP rankings, I see De Minaur is like 6th in the world and I get an aneurysm.
 
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