TIE-Breakfast - 01/29 Australian Open

Good morning and welcome back to TIE-Breakfast.

The morning briefing from Ace Cream that tells you everything you need to know before starting your day.

Today is Thursday, January 29, in Melbourne it's 6:30 PM and it's 23 degrees. Alright, let's go.

Today's breakfast

• 🇮🇹 Sinner in the semifinals: Shelton defeated in three sets
• 🇰🇿 Rybakina ends Świątek's Career Slam dream
• 🇺🇸 Pegula beats Anisimova and reaches her first Melbourne semifinal
• 🇧🇾 Sabalenka and the women's semifinals coming up soon

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇮🇹 Sinner In The Semifinals: Date With Djokovic

Jannik Sinner defeated Ben Shelton 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, reaching his third consecutive Australian Open semifinal and confirming an undeniable dominance over the American: nine consecutive wins, all without dropping a set.

The match followed a predictable script, but that doesn't diminish the solidity with which Sinner managed it. Shelton tried to vary more than in previous matches, coming to the net more frequently and trying to shorten the rallies, but every time the game lengthened, the Italian imposed his rhythm. The decisive break in the third set came at 4-4, when a Shelton double fault ended a match that, beyond the score, told the story of the difference between a player who is trying to build something and one who has already found it.

🇰🇿 Rybakina Settles The Matter With Świątek

Elena Rybakina defeated Iga Świątek 7-5, 6-1, ending the Polish player's pursuit of that Career Grand Slam that has never come in Melbourne.

What strikes you about this match is not so much the final score, but how quickly it changed direction. Świątek was up a break in the first set, seemed to have found a way to manage the Kazakh's power, and then lost eight of the last nine games. Rybakina served 11 aces and hit 26 winners, double her opponent's, but above all she demonstrated that ability to raise her level in decisive moments that Świątek has often lacked on this surface.

🇺🇸 Pegula Finally In The Last Four In Melbourne

Jessica Pegula defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 7-6(1) and reached the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in her career.

It's one of those stories that builds over time, rather than in a single match. Pegula lost a Slam final at the US Open 2024, reached the quarterfinals here in Melbourne multiple times without ever going further, and at 31 seemed destined to remain in that category of players who are good but not decisive enough. The second set tiebreak, closed 7-1, tells of a player who right now knows exactly what she wants.

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY:

• Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs Elina Svitolina (12) - First semifinal, evening session at Rod Laver Arena. Sabalenka is seeking her fifth Slam and third Australian Open. Svitolina, in the Melbourne semifinals for the first time in her career, comes off an extraordinary week that saw Gauff fall in the quarterfinals. The Ukrainian is on a 10-match winning streak after the Auckland title.
• Elena Rybakina (5) vs Jessica Pegula (6) - Second semifinal, to follow. Two players in excellent form: Rybakina eliminated Świątek with a dominant performance, Pegula has finally overcome the quarterfinal hurdle at this tournament. The head-to-head record is perfectly even (3-3), with Rybakina winning their last meeting at the WTA Finals.

COMING UP:

Tomorrow, Friday January 30, the men's semifinals will be played. Two matchups that tell the story of tennis's present and future.

• Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs Alexander Zverev (3) - Afternoon session, from 4:30 AM CET. Zverev eliminated Alcaraz in the 2024 quarterfinals, and the head-to-head record is perfectly even (6-6). The Spaniard seeks his first Australian Open to complete the Career Slam at just 22 years old; the German still chases that first Major that continues to elude him.
• Jannik Sinner (2) vs Novak Djokovic (4) - Evening session, from 9:30 AM CET. Sinner has won the last five head-to-head meetings against the Serbian. Djokovic, who arrives in the semifinal after two consecutive opponent retirements, hasn't beaten the Italian since 2023. But Slam semifinals always have their own rules, and at 38 Djokovic has proven multiple times he can rewrite the predictions.

Further reading

• Australian Open, Sinner: "What happened to Musetti makes you understand the unpredictability of tennis"
• Rybakina crushes a flat Swiatek in two sets
• Same, but different: Shelton beaten but better at AO 2026
• Day 13 Preview: Sinner vs Djokovic and Alcaraz vs Zverev

Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.

See you tomorrow at 8:30 AM with TIE-Breakfast