Australian Open live: Alcaraz reveals key to breakthrough win after De Minaur masterclass

Coco Gauff was left frustrated by a lack of privacy at the Australian Open after she was captured smashing her racket by behind-the-scenes cameras following her brutal defeat to Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals.

A similar incident occurred in 2023, after Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final, with Judy Murray criticising the publication of footage from a training room that showed Sabalenka smashing her racket after the loss.

“I tried to go somewhere where there was no cameras,” Gauff said after the defeat.

“I kind of have a thing with the broadcast. I feel like certain moments – the same thing happened to Aryna after I played her in final of US Open – I feel like they don't need to broadcast.”

Elina Svitolina knocked Coco Gauff out of the Australian Open to set up a semi-final clash with world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka as the American’s serve collapsed in brutal fashion.

Ukraine’s Svitolina, the 12th seed, defeated Gauff 6-1, 6-2 in just 59 minutes to reach her first Australian Open semi-final as her direct returns forced Gauff’s game to malfunction.

The 21-year-old made five double faults in the first set and did not hold serve until her sixth game of the match. As Gauff spiralled, at one stage in the second set Svitolina had won 12 points in a row.

The French Open champion looked distressed as her errors continued to pile up and - barring a late fight back from 0-3 down in the second set - the scoreline could have been even worse.

Sinner has battled physical difficulties in the heat to extend his win-streak in Melbourne to 18 matches, a run that includes a semi-final win over Shelton year.

The American eighth seed believes he is a different player now and the left-hander has been in dangerous form, having overcome Casper Ruud in his previous match, but the 23-year-old has a difficult record against Sinner.

Last year, Sinner rolled past Shelton 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-2, and he will look to match the gathering pace of rival Carlos Alcaraz after he progressed to his first Australian Open semi-final.

The winner of Sinner and Shelton’s match will play either Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti in Friday’s semi-final.

Djokovic reached all four semi-finals at the grand slam tournaments last year, at the age of 38, only to run into injury or one of Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz.

His latest pursuit of a 25th grand slam title has been aided by a walkover in the fourth round, as Jakub Mensik pulled out of the tournament due to injury.

Lorenzo Musetti, who is through to his first Australian Open semi-final, will be a tough test, but Djokovic won their last meeting in an epic three-hour Athens final at the end of last year.

Musetti has only won one of his 10 matches against Djokovic, who is a 10-time champion at Melbourne Park.

“I could say the level of US Open is higher than the level that I'm playing right now, but it's pretty close. Yeah, I think it's pretty close. We can discuss.

“I will let the people talk about it and say which level is the best, if US Open or this one. I would say with the level that I was serving, the way that I was doing everything in the US Open, for me I think it was unmatchable.

“But I’m just happy. I'm proud about how I am playing here.”

Still another gear for Alcaraz to get to, then?

“This my first official tournament of the year. For me sometimes, I'm not that patient sometimes. In the first match, I just really want to play at my best level. This is almost impossible. You have to get the rhythm of the competition again.

“I left the court in the first round happy with my level, how I just felt on the court. My team told me, be patient. Your level, the level you want to play, is going to come, for sure. You got to just keep trying, keep pushing yourself, and you will get where you want to be.

“I think it's been a great work so far of patience, of trying, of pushing yourself and just happy to see where my level is right now.”

Rod Laver Arena

12:30 AM GMT

1. Elena Rybakina (KAZ) [5] vs. Iga Swiatek (POL) [2]
2. Jessica Pegula (USA) [6] vs. Amanda Anisimova (USA) [4]
3. Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) [5] vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4]

8:00 AM GMT

1. Ben Shelton (USA) [8] vs. Jannik Sinner (ITA) [2]

• Reached his first Australian Open semi-final
• Reached his fourth grand slam semi-final in a row
• Reached his 10th grand slam semi-final from 20 appearances
• Become the third-youngest player to reach the semi-finals at all four grand slams
• Become the second-youngest player to reach 10 grand slam semi-finals

Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev are 6-6 in their overall head-to-head, but Alcaraz’s thoughts immediately turned to their Australian Open quarter-final from two years ago.

“I think [I will need to] increase my level. I’ve seen Sacha through the whole tournament. He's playing great tennis, really solid, aggressive. I think he's serving pretty well as well, soI have to be ready.

”We practiced in the week before the tournament began and he beat me 7-6, but playing such great tennis. We gotta be ready, not only me, my team as well. We have to play tactically, really well, so it's gonna be a great battle.

“I'm really looking forward playing him again here, taking the revenge. So it's gonna be great. I can't wait for that.”