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.

Novak Djokovic plays Alexander Zverev in the semifinals of the 2025 Australian Open. Our Australian Open odds series has our Djokovic Zverev prediction, odds and pick. Find out how to watch Djokovic-Zverev.

The 2025 Australian Open runs from Sunday, Jan. 12 to Sunday, Jan. 26. However, due to the time difference in The Land Down Under, match start times will be a bit wonky for U.S. viewers, meaning the first major tennis tournament of the year will start airing coverage at 7 p.m. ET on Jan. 11 in U.S. timezones.

Sabalenka is continuing to carve her way through the field in trying to become the first woman since fellow Swiss star Martina Hingis to win three straight Australian Open titles. The Belarussian was looking pretty clean through the first four rounds, though she needed three sets to get by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals.

Find out how to watch the women's singles semifinals of the 2025 Australian Open for free if you don't have cable. In the semifinals are Aryna Sabalenka vs. Paula Badosa and Madison Keys vs. Iga Swiatek.