Australian Open men’s singles semis: Djokovic fights Federer for final spot

Tennis titans Djokovic and Federer have faced each other 44 times before, and their record is split right down the middle at 22 wins apiece. It’s even two victories per stellar player in four hard court meetings at the back end of last season, so there’s little to choose between them.

What makes ATP world number one Djokovic the odds-on 4/11 match favourite is his performance in recent Grand Slam meetings against Federer. In the big tournaments when it really matters, the Serb is deadly, but flawless Swiss all-time great Federer cannot be ruled out either at 9/4 to make the Australian Open final.

Djokovic won both the 2015 Slam meetings in four sets, so a repeat 3-1 result in Melbourne appeals at awesome odds of 11/4. Federer notably took the second set in those encounters, though, and is a 6/4 chance to do so again.

Don’t forget their ATP Tour Finals tussle at the end of last year too.

Murray to end Raonic run

It’s a similar story with the other Australian Open semi; Murray and Raonic’s head-to-head is three victories each, the four previous hard court meetings have been shared and the big events have ended up going to the Briton.

There is justification in Murray being odds-on 4/11 match favourite here, then, and attractive at 2/1 to repeat a straight sets result from the 2012 US Open. If it comes down to who can handle the big match experience, then it’s the Scottish star to side with.

Raonic’s route to the last four has not been easy; he negotiated tricky ties with Viktor Troicki, number four seed Stan Wawrinka and a resurgent Gael Monfils from round three onwards. The Montenegro-born Canadian player is 9/4 to pull off another shock here, though.

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Coral’s top tip: Prepare to be patriotic again and pile on Murray to end Raonic’s run in straight sets (3-0) at a tasty 2/1.