Preview Australian Open Day Eleven | Last semi-final spots on the line with Sinner, Djokovic, Swiatek-Rybakina among challengers

Day 11 marks the second and final day of quarter-final action at the 2026 Australian Open, with there four semi-final spots left in both the ATP and WTA events with those coveted spaces set to be ferociously clashed by some of the best players in the world.

Two Wimbledon champions will kick off the action, with Iga Swiatek taking on Elena Rybakina with Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula closely following. The men's quarter-finals will commence with Novak Djokovic returning against Lorenzo Musetti with Jannik Sinner capping off the day against Ben Shelton.

It is a very strong lineup in the women’s semi-final with it being led off off by six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek facing off against the WTA Finals champion Elena Rybakina, with the result possibly going either way.

It has not bee the best 2026 by Swiatek’s high standards, maybe not putting in the performances expected. Nevertheless, she helped her nation win the United Cup while also making a third Australian Open quarter-final. She has won her prior two last-eight matches in Melbourne, and a third will see her reach another semi-final, with the career Grand Slam still very much on the table.

Victories over Yue Yuan, Marie Bouzkova, Anna Kalinskaya and Maddison Inglis has shown off a variety of very high calibre tennis and times where she is on the ropes a little bit. Against tougher opposition, she will be vulnerable and likely punished.

This is the case if Rybakina is at her best form. She has so far looked very promising on court as she targets a second Australian Open final, with a rematch of the 2023 final against world number one Aryna Sabalenka a strong possibility.

No sets dropped as of yet for the world number five, who has seen off Kaja Juvan, Varvara Gracheva, Tereza Valentova and Elise Mertens to reach only a second Australian Open quarter-final, and seventh Grand Slam.

11 times they have competed on the WTA Tour, with Swiatek boasting a slender lead. One of the more significant meetings came back in 2023 in Rybakina’s run to the final in Melbourne. The Kazakh dumped out the former world number one in the fourth round. It is yet to be seen is she can pull another magic out of the hat, or if Swiatek will deny her of a chance for a second Grand Slam title.

An all-American clash will follow this tie with Anisimova looking to turn her dreadful form against Pegula around as she hunts for a third consecutive major semi-final, and first in Australia.

She has yet to drop a set yet, looking very strong on court. It is not a stacked list of names she has found a way past, but you can only defeat whoever is in front of you. She has gotten the better of Simona Waltert, Katerina Siniakova, Peyton Stearns and most recently Xinyu Wang in a very close encounter.

The 24-year-old is already breaking new ground in this event having never made it past the fourth round, reaching that stage on three separate occasions. She will be looking to continue making progress through the event as a third Grand Slam final on the spin is getting closer to reality, as well as a spot as the world number three.

For Pegula, this is a fourth Australian Open quarter-final appearance, reaching this stage in 2021, 2022 and 2023. After two average turnouts in Melbourne she is back competing deep in major events and is targeting a second consecutive major semi-final for the first time in her career, and first time outside of the US Open.

It has either been Russian or American on the opposite end of the court. Similar to Anisimova, the 31-year-old is yet to drop a set. She took down Anastasia Zakharova, her doubles partner McCartney Kessler, Oksana Selekhmeteva and the reigning champion Madison Keys.

The world number six has won all three meetings between the pair on the WTA Tour, with the most recent coming back in the 2024 Canadian Open final. They did play twice in two days in a brace of exhibitions over in the states. While Pegula kept up the fine form in the first match, Anisimova extracted her revenge at the Miami Invitational. The next step is for her to get it done on the biggest stage of all and continue this fine form in major events.

The world number four will go to battle against the world number five, with only one of Djokovic and Musetti being able to get their names into the semi-final.

The 10-time champion has looked imperious so far on court, shrugging off any concerns over fitness, age and match sharpness which was being tossed around before a ball was hit in anger. Apart from 2024 and 2025, every time he has reached the semi-final in this tournament he has gone onto win it. He is currently on a run of four consecutive semi-finals in all major events without a Grand Slam title since the 2023 US Open.

He has had fortune with his matches so far. After producing a phenomenal serving display against Pedro Martinez, he found a way past Francesco Maestrelli and Botic Van de Zandschulp. He was supposed to face off against Jakub Mensik in the last-16, but the Czech talent withdrew due to injury, allowing Djokovic an extended period of rest.

For Musetti, he has already played a lot of tennis this year, with some great results. He had the chance to end his title drought in the Hong Kong Open, but another final passes him by after Alexander Bublik produced the goods over in Asia. However, in the live rankings he is up to world number three, an astonishing effort.

A spot in a third grand Slam semi-final would move him closer to cementing that spot as his own at the end of the tournament, with a final four appearance also making it to a semi-final on every surface in a major tournament. He has defeated Raphael Collignon, Lorenzo Sonego, Tomas Machac and Taylor Fritz to get to this point.

They have had 10 encounters on the ATP Tour. With most head to heads involving Djokovic, the Serbian has a clear advantage, winning nine of them. They last met in the Hellenic Championship final, where Djokovic came from a set down to clinch victory.

Sinner is highly regarded as the favourite to clinch the title in this event. However, he is not in the final yet and has a tough challenge in the form of Shelton ahead of reaching another Grand Slam semi-final in the only night match on day 11.

The Italian is looking to get closer to a fifth consecutive Grand Slam final on the spin. This ridiculous form has obviously made him into one of the most dominant players on the ATP Tour, with only Carlos Alcaraz at his level.

Apart from a scare in round three, it has been smooth sailing for the 24-year-old. He has defeated Hugo Gaston, James Duckworth, Eliot Spizzirri and fellow countryman Luciano Darderi to make it to this stage, but Shelton will be the toughest test yet.

The American has come on leaps and bounds these last 12 months, cementing his spot in the top 10, winning a maiden Masters 1000 title while qualifying for the ATP Finals for the first time, disappointingly unable to pick up a victory in Turn.

He has continued this positive momentum as he looks to reach a second consecutive Australian Open semi-final. He has dropped one set so far, coming in his latest win. His fallen opponents have been Ugo Humbert, Dane Sweeny, Valentin Vacherot and three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud after falling a set behind.

Sinner will be a different challenge for the 23-year-old, with them facing in last year’s semi-final. The eventual champion did not let Shelton lay a finger on him, ending what was a very glorious campaign in a familiar result when these two play. That was the most prestigious match they have played out of nine meetings. Shelton won the first at the 2023 Shanghai Masters. Since then, Sinner has won every single match. If he continues this trend, then he is on the road to yet another Australian Open semi-final.