Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic in Australian Open semifinal: How to watch

By Bcross348Jan 29, 2020, 7:44 AM EST

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The 2020 Australian Open will have its biggest showdown in the classic rivalry between Roger Federer and defending champion Novak Djokovic on Thursday night. The two tennis stars face off in the Semifinals for a shot at another major title and a record prize of $4.12 million. Here is what to know and how to tune in for another chapter in the Federer vs. Djokovic rivalry.

When is the match?

The match is set to begin on Thursday, January 30 at 7:00 p.m. ET.

How can I watch the Australian Open Semifinals?

If you are watching in the US, Federer vs. Djokovic will be broadcast by ESPN and the Tennis Channel. Those with access can enjoy it on TV as part of their usual subscription package.

For those looking to stream, the network’s subscription service ESPN+ will carry the match.

Here are some listings around the globe:

Africa: BeIN Sports, EuroSport, SuperSport
Asia Pacific & Oceania: ESPN, Fox Sports, Nine, BTV, CCTV, FBC, SINA, GDTV, QIY, NHK, Sky Sports, Sony Six, W_O_W_O_W
Canada: TSN, RDS
Central Asia: EuroSport, Sony Six
Europe: EuroSport, ServusTV
Latin America & Caribbean: ESPN
Middle East: BeIN Sports, EuroSport
United States: ESPN and ESPN2, ESPN+, ESPN3 and Tennis Channel

Where is it being played?

The Australian Open is held in Melbourne, Australia and played at Melbourne Park on a hard surface court.

How much are tickets?

The cheapest ticket for the Australian Open Semifinals Night is currently going for $431.85 at Stubhub, with the most expensive going for $1,446.74.

What road did each player take to get to the Semifinals?

Federer: In the opening round, the Swiss tennis star and No. 3 seed took down American Steve Johnson in three sets. Federer did the same to Filip Krajinovic in the second round, but was pushed to five sets against John Millman in the third round and four sets against Marton Fucsovics in the fourth. Closing out his journey to the Semifinals, Federer took down American Tennys Sandgren in four sets on Monday, January 27.

Djokovic: The Serbian and No. 2 seed in the tournament took a slightly different route than Federer, playing Jan-Lennard Struff to five sets in the first round, but sweeping each of his four remaining competitors to reach the Semifinals.

Who will the winner play in the Finals?

Possibly Dominic Thiem, who upset top seed Rafael Nadal in a four-hour, 10-minute match, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6). Or it will be Thiem’s semifinal opponent, Alexander Zverev.

What is the head-to-head record between Federer and Djokovic?

Djokovic currently holds the lead against Federer with a record of 26-23. Federer won the previous match between the two at the 2019 ATP Finals tournament, but Djokovic bested Federer in the 2019 Wimbledon Finals and has won 9 of the last 12 against the Swiss legend, dating back to 2015.

Does Federer or Djokovic have more majors wins?

Federer holds the record for most major singles titles for a male at 20. Djokovic, the 2019 Australian Open champion, is not far behind Federer with 16 major titles.

How many Australian Open titles have Federer and Djokovic won?

Djokovic holds the record with seven Australian Open titles, but Federer is one off of that mark with six.

Australian bush fires

Melbourne hasn’t been as badly affected as Canberra or Sydney by the fires, however, thanks to changing winds air pollution shot up to “hazardous” levels in the week running up to the event.

While the tournament is proceeding as scheduled, umpires have been told to stop play if air monitoring shows it is too dangerous to continue.

Summer McIntosh breaks 400m individual medley world record, extends historic week

By OlympicTalkApr 1, 2023, 7:03 PM EDT

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Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh broke her second world record this week, lowering the 400m individual medley mark on Saturday.

McIntosh, a 16-year-old who trains in Sarasota, Florida, clocked 4 minutes, 25.87 seconds at the Canadian Championships in Toronto.

She took down Hungarian Katinka Hosszu‘s world record of 4:26.36 from the 2016 Rio Olympics. Before Saturday, McIntosh had the fourth-fastest time in history of 4:28.61.

“It’s always nice to set world records,” McIntosh said.

On Tuesday, McIntosh broke the 400m freestyle world record, becoming the youngest swimmer to break a world record in an individual Olympic event since Katie Ledecky in 2013.

McIntosh also this week became the fourth-fastest woman in history in the 200m individual medley and the eighth-fastest woman in history in the 200m butterfly.

In each of her four races this week, she also broke the world junior record as the fastest woman in history under the age of 19.

She is entered to swim the 200m free on the meet’s final day on Sunday. She is already the eighth-fastest woman in history in that event.

McIntosh, whose mom swam the 1984 Olympic 200m fly and whose sister competed at last week’s world figure skating championships, placed fourth in the Tokyo Olympic 400m free at age 14.

Last summer, she won the 200m fly and 400m IM at the world championships, becoming the youngest individual world champion since 2011.

This summer, she could be at the center of a showdown in the 400m free at the world championships with reigning world champion Ledecky and reigning Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia. They are the three fastest women in history in the event.

Around age 7, McIntosh transcribed Ledecky quotes and put them on her wall.

MORE: McIntosh chose swimming and became Canada’s big splash

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Hilary Knight leads new-look U.S. women’s hockey roster for world championship

By OlympicTalkApr 1, 2023, 9:02 AM EDT

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Hilary Knight headlines a U.S. women’s hockey roster for this month’s world championship that lacks some of the biggest names from last year’s Olympic silver-medal team. Changes have been made as the U.S. looks to end losing streaks to Canada, both overall and in major finals.

The full roster is here. Worlds start Wednesday in Brampton, Ontario, and run through the gold-medal game on April 16.

It was already known that the team would be without stalwart forwards Kendall Coyne Schofield, who plans to return to the national team after having her first child this summer, and Brianna Decker, who announced her retirement last month.

Notable cuts include the No. 1 goalies from the last two Olympics: Alex Cavallini, who returned from Christmas childbirth for the tryout camp this past week, and Maddie Rooney, the breakout of the 2018 Olympic champion team.

Cavallini, 31, was bidding to become the first player to make an Olympic or world team after childbirth since Jenny Potter, who played at the Olympics in 2002, 2006 and 2010 as a mom, plus at several world championships, including less than three months after childbirth in 2007.

Forward Hannah Brandt, who played on the top line at last year’s Olympics with Knight and Coyne Schofield, also didn’t make the team.

In all, 13 of the 25 players on the team are Olympians, including three-time Olympic medalists forward Amanda Kessel and defender Lee Stecklein.

The next generation includes forward Taylor Heise, 23, who led the 2022 World Championship with seven goals and was the 2022 NCAA Player of the Year at Minnesota.

The team includes two teens — 19-year-old defender Haley Winn and 18-year-old forward Tessa Janecke — who were also the only teens at last week’s 46-player tryout camp. Janecke, a Penn State freshman, is set to become the youngest U.S. forward to play at an Olympics or worlds since Brandt in 2012.

Abbey Levy, a 6-foot-1 goalie from Boston College, made her first world team, joining veterans Nicole Hensley and Aerin Frankel.

Last summer, Canada repeated as world champion by beating the U.S. in the final, six months after beating the U.S. in the Olympic final. Canada is on its longest global title streak since winning all five Olympic or world titles between 1999 and 2004.

Also at last summer’s worlds, the 33-year-old Knight broke the career world championship record for points (now up to 89). She also has the most goals in world championship history (53). Knight, already the oldest U.S. Olympic women’s hockey player in history, will become the second-oldest American to play at a worlds after Cammi Granato, who was 34 at her last worlds in 2005.

The Canadians are on a four-game win streak versus the Americans, capping a comeback in their recent seven-game rivalry series from down three games to none. Their 5-0 win in the decider in February was their largest margin of victory over the U.S. since 2005.

Last May, former AHL coach John Wroblewski was named U.S. head coach to succeed Joel Johnson, the Olympic coach.