By Shrivathsa Sridhar MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys made rocky starts on Thursday but eventually secured contrasting victories to set up a heavy metal Australian Open final showdown that will pit two of the game's big hitters against each other.

The semifinal matches are scheduled to start at 3:30 a.m. EST and will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Fans looking to watch can do so through FuboTV, which offers a free trial and $30 off your first month, or DirecTV Stream, which also offers a free trial. SlingTV doesn’t offer a free trial but does have other promotional offers available.

Coco Gauff has lost in the Australian Open quarterfinals to Paula Badosa 7-5, 6-4. Tuesday’s result ended a 13-match unbeaten run that dated to last season for Gauff, the 2023 U.S.

Novak Djokovic faces Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Friday with the Serb's bid for a record 25th Grand Slam title picking up steam at just the right time.

The potential championship matchups should bring a lot of intrigue to the first Grand Slam tournament of the year

It seems as if there’s always something going on with Novak Djokovic at Grand Slam tournaments. Even he says so.

Plus, Ben Shelton gets the chance to end the American men's drought at a Grand Slam when he faces Jannik Sinner in the semis

Jannik Sinner (No. 1 ranking) will face Ben Shelton (No. 20) in the semifinals at the Australian Open on Thursday, January 23.Sinner enters the semifinals after winning in three sets, 6-3, 6-2,

When Madison Keys finally finished off her 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) upset of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in a high-intensity, high-quality Australian Open semifinal on Thursday night, saving a match point along