Novak Djokovic<\/p>\n
Djokovic is still given respect at +1300, implying 7.14% and a $130 profit on $10. That\u2019s a big number for a player who has owned Melbourne for years, but the market is pricing in age, mileage, and the rise of Sinner-Alcaraz. Even with lower odds, Djokovic\u2019s Australian Open pedigree is unmatched in the field. He\u2019s the last man to win the event before the Sinner\/Alcaraz era fully took over, and his ability to solve five-set puzzles in extreme heat is a built-in advantage. The line says he needs everything to align\u2014draw, health, and timing\u2014but if he lands on the right side of the bracket, no one is thrilled to see him across the net in week two.<\/p>\n
![\"Novak](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Djokovic-AO-25.jpg\")
Novak Djokovic (Psnewz)<\/p>\n
Alexander Zverev<\/p>\n Zverev sits at +1900 (5% implied, $190 profit). He was the AO 2025 finalist and keeps showing up late in Slams, but he\u2019s still chasing the breakthrough. The 2025 AO final loss to Sinner was Zverev\u2019s third defeat in a Grand Slam final. He\u2019s openly vowed to keep pushing for a major, and his huge serve is tailor-made for Melbourne\u2019s pace. The Vienna final in October showed he can trade with Sinner in tight moments even as their rivalry sits 4\u20134. The question isn\u2019t talent; it\u2019s whether he can sustain aggression through seven best-of-five matches.<\/p>\n Daniil Medvedev<\/p>\n Medvedev is priced at +2200, or 4.35% implied, paying $220 on $10. He\u2019s a former Australian Open winner and one of the best hard-court tacticians alive, which is why he\u2019s always a threat even when not top-two in odds. His flat depth, elastic defense, and return patterns are custom-built for Rod Laver Arena. In a field leaning toward power, his ability to drag servers into ugly rallies remains a unique weapon. If the tournament plays a touch slower or gets windy, his value jumps quickly.<\/p>\n Jack Draper<\/p>\n Draper is the first true \u201cnew-wave\u201d contender on the men\u2019s board at +3500, implying 2.78% and a $350 profit for $10. The odds are long but not dismissive. Draper\u2019s left-handed patterns open up hard-court angles that bother right-heavy draws, and Melbourne historically rewards aggressive first-strike tennis. With the tour shifting younger, Draper is the type of player who can turn a quarterfinal into a title bid if confidence catches fire early.<\/p>\n Taylor Fritz<\/p>\n Fritz checks in at +4000, a 2.44% implied chance, and $400 profit on $10. His route is clear: dominate service games, keep points short, and hope the draw removes a couple elite returners. On quick Aussie hard courts, his serve-forehand combo can ride streaks, and if you\u2019re shopping futures, through the best sports betting apps<\/a> you\u2019ll see him consistently hovering in that second tier.<\/p>\n Alex de Minaur<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s top hope, de Minaur, is priced at +5500 (1.79% implied, $550 return). He already proved he can hang deep in Melbourne by reaching a 2025 quarterfinal where Sinner beat him 6\u20133, 6\u20132, 6\u20131. That loss still revealed how much pressure his pace can create on home courts. If he brings a more lethal first serve in 2026, the crowd factor could turn tight matches his way.<\/p>\n Aryna Sabalenka<\/p>\n On the women\u2019s side, Sabalenka is the favorite at +200, giving a 33.33% implied title chance and a $20 profit on $10. She\u2019s been atop the board all year, even after losing the 2025 Australian Open final. Her 2025 season shows why she\u2019s still No. 1 in odds. She won Brisbane in January by beating Polina Kudermetova 4\u20136, 6\u20133, 6\u20132; lost the Australian Open final to Madison Keys 3\u20136, 6\u20132, 5\u20137; fell at Indian Wells to Mirra Andreeva 6\u20132, 4\u20136, 3\u20136; then beat Jessica Pegula to win Miami 7\u20135, 6\u20132. She added the Madrid WTA 1000 title over Coco Gauff 6\u20133, 7\u20136^(7\u20133), won the US Open final against Amanda Anisimova 6\u20133, 7\u20136^(7\u20133), and reached the WTA Finals title match after group wins over Jasmine Paolini, Pegula, and Gauff before beating Anisimova in the semis\u2014only to lose the Riyadh final to Elena Rybakina 3\u20136, 6\u20137^(0\u20137). Her yearly tally: 9 singles finals, 4 titles, 5 runners-up, with finals by tier listed as Grand Slams (1\u20132), WTA Tour Championships (0\u20131), WTA 1000 (2\u20131), WTA 500 (1\u20131), and surfaces Hard (3\u20133) and Clay (1\u20132). That\u2019s a lot of elite consistency on hard courts, which is Melbourne\u2019s currency.<\/p>\n Iga Swiatek<\/p>\n Swiatek is second favorite at +440, implying 18.52% with $44 profit on $10. She doesn\u2019t rely on raw pace; she relies on control and brutal point-construction. The market respects her adaptability, and she\u2019s the most likely to punish Sabalenka if conditions run a bit cooler or slower. Her steady return pressure and willingness to redirect pace make her the field\u2019s most reliable counterweight to Sabalenka\u2019s first-strike power.<\/p>\n Coco Gauff<\/p>\n Gauff sits at +750 (11.76% implied, $75 profit). Her 2025 included a French Open title, and she beat Sabalenka in the Roland-Garros semifinal and in other big moments, showing she can trade power with the tour\u2019s biggest hitters. If her serve percentage spikes in Melbourne, she\u2019s a real contender who can win ugly or pretty, depending on the matchups.<\/p>\n Elena Rybakina<\/p>\n Rybakina is co-third at +750, also 11.76% implied and $75 on $10. Her 2025 surge peaked when she won the WTA Finals, beating Sabalenka in straight sets 3\u20136, 6\u20137^ (0\u20137). She also pushed deep late in the year, and her first-strike serve pattern is lethal on Australian hard courts. When she\u2019s finding her spots early, her matches can look non-negotiable.<\/p>\n Mirra Andreeva\u00a0<\/p>\n Andreeva is next at +950, implying 9.52% and returning $95 for $10. She already owns two WTA 1000 trophies from 2025 and beat Sabalenka in the Indian Wells final, which is basically a hard-court warning label to the rest of the draw. Her nerves look older than her age, and she plays tight moments like she expects to be there.<\/p>\n Madison Keys<\/p>\n Keys is priced at +1200 (7.69% implied, $120 profit). She won her first Grand Slam by taking the 2025 Australian Open final over Sabalenka, and the odds show she\u2019s not being treated like a fluke. Her flatter, early-contact hitting plays fast in Melbourne, and the confidence of defending a title can be a real performance amplifier.<\/p>\n Amanda Anisimova<\/p>\n Anisimova shares +1200, 7.69% implied, and $120 on $10. She was the 2025 US Open runner-up to Sabalenka and also reached the WTA Finals semifinal, losing there to Sabalenka before that same Sabalenka fell to Rybakina. The market is baking in her momentum and her ability to play baseline power tennis without leaking errors in the big spots.<\/p>\n Naomi Osaka<\/p>\n Osaka\u2019s number is +1600 (5.88% implied, $160 profit). Even if she hasn\u2019t dominated every week lately, her hard-court ceiling is still title-level in Melbourne, a place where she\u2019s historically felt comfortable taking the ball early. If her return rhythm locks in early rounds, she becomes a bracket-breaker fast.<\/p>\n Recent Australian Open odds context<\/p>\n Recent Australian Open betting history underlines why favorites deserve respect, but chaos is always possible. Men\u2019s winners were Sinner at +120 in 2025 and +500 in 2024, Djokovic at -120 in 2023, Nadal at +550 in 2022, Djokovic at +130 in 2021, and so on. On the women\u2019s side, Keys won at +3300 in 2025, Sabalenka at +450 in 2024 and +700 in 2023, Osaka at +550 in 2021<\/a>, and Kenin shocked at +6600 in 2020. The takeaway is simple: Sinner and Sabalenka deserve top billing going into AO 2026, but Melbourne has a recent habit of letting one fearless outsider crash the party when the draw opens up and form peaks at the right time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Australian Open 2026 (Melbourne Park, January 18 to February 1, with knockout rounds starting January 25) is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-337838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n <\/a><\/p>\n![\"Aryna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Sabalenka_Australian_Open_25_QF.jpg\")
Aryna Sabalenka (Tennis Majors)<\/p>\n