Only four players remain in the men's singles competition at this year's Australian Open with the semi-finals taking place on Friday.

Big names such as Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud and Daniil Medvedev crashed out prematurely in Melbourne this year, enabling outsiders Karen Khachanov and Tommy Paul to pave paths to the last four.

But they are joined by two players with plenty of Australian Open experience behind them in Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic and the betting suggests there could be one-way traffic in both of the men's semi-finals.

Here is a look at how the matches could unfold and which two players could be heading to the final in Melbourne on Sunday 29th January in search of the season's first Grand Slam.

Tsitsipas expected to be far too strong for Khachanov

What	Karen Khachanov v Stefanos Tsitsipas
Where	Melbourne Park, Melbourne
When	From 03:30, Friday 27th January
How to watch	Eurosport, Discovery+
Odds	Karen Khachanov 2/1, Stefanos Tsitsipas 2/5

With the large Greek population in Melbourne and similar weather to that of Athens, it is no wonder Tsitsipas refers to the Australian Open as his own "home Slam".

The 24-year-old loves these courts and is playing in the Australian Open semi-finals for the fourth time in the last five years.

Last year he fell at this stage against Medvedev but Tsitsipas is brimming with confidence right now and should reach only his second ever Grand Slam final at the expense of improving Khachanov.

Khachanov performed well in the quarter-finals, leading 2-0 against plucky Sebastian Korda before the American had to retire injured, handing Khachanov a spot in the last four.

The 26-year-old from Moscow is at this stage on merit but it is fair to say he has had one of the softer runs to the semi-finals at this year's Australian Open with third-round opponent Frances Tiafoe, who was the 16th seed, the highest-ranked player he has faced.

Tsitsipas has also had an easier run than anticipated but has won four of his five matches in straight sets and dug deep in the other, edging 15th seed Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller.

Experience is on the side of Tsitsipas, who also leads the head-to-head between these players 5-0 with four of those wins coming on the hard courts. 

At 9/4 he is a great value bet to win this match 3-0.

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What	Novak Djokovic v Tommy Paul
Where	Melbourne Park, Melbourne
When	From 08:30, Friday 27th January
How to watch	Eurosport, Discovery+
Odds	Novak Djokovic 1/20, Tommy Paul 10/1

Hamstring issues threatened to derail Djokovic's Australian Open campaign earlier in the tournament with the Serbian requiring medical timeouts in the second and third rounds in Melbourne but he has since quashed any injury concerns with comfortable wins over Alex De Minaur and Andrey Rublev.

The nine-time Australian Open winner has gotten stronger as the tournament has gone on this month, having not dropped a set since the second round, and Djokovic's hunger in Melbourne is unquestionable.

If he can justify outright quotes of 1/5 To Win Outright, Djokovic will take his tally of Australian Open titles to ten and will level Nadal's overall Grand Slam tally of 22.

A determined Djokovic is dangerous and he goes into this match on a 26-match winning streak in the Australian Open.

That spells bad news for American Paul, who has never gone this far at a Grand Slam before.

Players can only beat those in front of them but the draw has helped Paul, who has faced nobody in the top 20 at this year's Australian Open.

He was made to work for victory by Ben Shelton last time out, dropping a set and going to a tiebreak in the first set, and his inexperience could be clear to see against a master of the game like Djokovic.

Djokovic dismantled fifth seed Rublev 6-1 6-2 6-4 last time out and conceded only five games against De Minaur beforehand, so a bet on the Serbian at -8.5 on the games handicap could be the way to go. 

Alternatively, a bet on a straight-sets win for Djokovic at 8/15 could also be worthwhile.