Gigi Salmon dissects another incredible Australian Open, including a marathon men’s semi-finals day, why Elena Rybakina is better than the rest, and reflecting on losing her voice in the opening week! It’s all in her latest Sky Sports column.
What a finish to the Australian Open which, until the final Friday, men’s semi-finals day, had been very straightforward and somewhat disappointing. Straight sets wins across the draws, no massive upsets, no real drama, with the weather grabbing the headlines more than the tennis.
Working for a British broadcaster in Melbourne we had a flurry of interest around Emma Raducanu, her defeat to Anastasia Potapova in the second round and subsequent parting of ways with coach Francis Roig after just a few months of working together, while Cameron Norrie got to the third round taking a set off third seed Sascha Zverev before falling in four.
Now I will be the first to admit that I didn’t think that Novak Djokovic had any chance of getting to the final and I couldn’t, and I still don’t see him winning a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam. It’s not that I don’t want him too it’s for all the reasons we saw in Melbourne and it’s the challenge facing players who are a lot younger that Djokovic.
Even if you can get past one of them – and we all know who I’m talking about, which he did by taking out the defending champion Jannik Sinner – the chances are the other one will be waiting for you.
To highlight their dominance they have shared the last nine Grand Slam titles and no one I have spoken to thinks that is going to change in the foreseeable future.
A special day at Melbourne Park
Carlos Alcaraz overcame cramp and injury to defeat Alexander Zverev in the first men’ semi-final
The men’s semi-finals day was one of the best days of tennis that I have worked on, starting at 2.30pm it finished at 1.30am the next morning with a total of 10 sets and nine hours and 36 minutes of tennis played.
In the first semi, Alcaraz was cruising against Zverev before what looked like cramp struck late in the third set. Tournament rules allow medical timeouts for injuries but not muscle cramps, however and this is what the world No 1 referenced in his press conference after the match: the decision is left to the attending physio and doctor, who requested that a medical timeout be taken.
Zverev’s reaction: “I don’t like it but it’s not my decision, you are protecting these two guys [Alcaraz and Sinner] all of the time”.
Zverev couldn’t take advantage of a clearly hampered Alcaraz, allowing the Spaniard to get back on track, break the German when he was serving for the match and then close it out himself.
If Zverev can’t find a way to deal with the scar tissue that has clearly built up and blocks him from stepping up and taking control when it matters most he won’t achieve his dream of winning a Grand Slam title.
Novak Djokovic was fuelled by the doubters as he defeated Jannik Sinner in another epic
We were still digesting what we had seen in the first semi-final when two-time defending champion Sinner and Djokovic walked out on to the Rod Laver Arena and the general consensus was that even though Djokovic had had a walkover and a withdrawal in the last two rounds, while Sinner had suffered in the heat, the Italian would still get the job done and more than likely in straight sets, but how wrong we were!
Djokovic fuelled in his own words by the doubters played and served very well. Sinner will be having nightmare over his inability to take his chances converting just two of 18 break points.
Four hours and nine minutes later the final was set with history on the line for both players!
I spent the afternoon of the final canvassing opinion from past players, with all but one going for a Spanish win.
Their reasons, age and physicality! Alcaraz would have too much, having recovered from cramp, while it would be a step too far for Djokovic at 38 to recover to the level he would require to be at and so it proved to be, although you wouldn’t have thought that when he was a set up in 35 minutes.
The world No 1 would recover from a set down to beat Djokovic and win his first Australian Open title, a seventh Grand Slam title from eight finals and all by the tender age of 22 saying that “it was a dream come true”.
Rybakina plays starring role
Salmon believes Rybakina can challenge Aryna Sabalenka for world No 1
In my last column I wrote that I wasn’t sure what role Rybakina would play, as it turns out it was a starring one, winning her second Grand Slam title and first since Wimbledon 2022.
Rybakina up to third in the world and I believe at her best is better than the rest and if she can stay healthy and consistent it wont be long before she is challenging Aryna Sabalenka for world No 1.
She has lost just one of her last 21 matches, seems content, I would never go as far as saying happy as she is so difficult to read and gives very little away and will be a threat across all surfaces.
It’s now back-to-back Australian Open finals that has seen Sabalenka fall short and from a position in the final where she led 3-0 in the deciding set and then in her own words lost her focus.
Until that match, she like Rybakina hadn’t dropped a set and Sabalenka with the Brisbane title was undefeated for the year.
For those who remember her meltdowns in Melbourne 12 months ago and at the French Open later in the year, we saw none of that, it was a much more controlled performance when it came to her emotions, saying before the final that she had learnt lessons from last year.
It will be interesting to see Sabalenka’s next move as last year she played the two WTA 1000 events Doha and Dubai with early exits in both saying afterwards that she felt she returned too early and hadn’t given herself enough time to process the defeat in the final in Melbourne.
Britain’s Neal Skupski (right) won the men’s doubles title alongside Christian Harrison
We had a British champion at Melbourne Park with Neal Skupski alongside new partner Christian Harrison winning the men’s doubles title.
Last year was a tough season for Neal who is coached by brother Ken, reaching six finals including the French Open, US Open and the showpiece at the Tour Finals, but not coming away with a title alongside partner Joe Salisbury. It’s not just the title that Neal comes away with in the new rankings – he is back at No 1 for the first time since November 2022.
What to do when you lose your voice at a Slam!
Jannik Sinner has been unable to close out big matches!
A few final thoughts and takeaways from the 2026 Australian Open, my favourite day by far was men’s semi-finals day, Sinner is now a worrying 0-8 in matches that have lasted longer than three hours and 48 minutes, Zverev needs to address why he’s unable to close out the big matches and if you happen to lose your voice, which I did in week one, it doesn’t matter how much honey and lemon you drink. The only way to get it back is by not talking, something which I struggle with!!!
I was lucky enough to see and work with a number of the Sky Sports Tennis team over the two weeks and as for Tim he is back home after five weeks Down Under, which started with him captaining the GB team in the United Cup, while Laura’s marathon training is going well, although it might look a little different for a couple of weeks while she works on the Winter Olympics and I will be keeping you company for the WTA double header of Doha and Dubai.
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