The first Grand Slam of the 2025 tennis season begins on Monday, January 13 in Melbourne with the Australian Open, where Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka are the top seeds, defending champions and title favorites.
Storylines abound at Melbourne Park, which will be the center of the tennis world for an upcoming mid-January fortnight.
Can Sinner and Sabalenka defend their 2024 titles? Can Novak Djokovic add at least one more Aussie Open trophy to his record-setting haul? Is a second major triumph on the cards for Coco Gauff?
On the men’s side, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are among the favorites after they split last season’s four Grand Slam titles at two apiece (the Australian Open and U.S. Open for Sinner; the French Open and Wimbledon for Alcaraz). However, they could be challenged by the likes of Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, former Aussie Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas and 2024 U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz.
The women’s field is headlined by Sabalenka, Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka has won back-to-back titles in Melbourne and she kicked off this season by lifting the Brisbane trophy, so her status as the favorite is crystal clear. Winning three in a row, though, won’t be easy.
Gauff is red hot right now, Rybakina reached the final in 2023 and Swiatek – the world No. 2 – is already a five-time major champion at 23 years old.
Djokovic may no longer be in his prime at 37 years old, but he can never be discounted – especially at the Australian Open, which has been his best tournament throughout an illustrious career.
The Serb has triumphed Down Under 10 times, including in four of the last six years.
Although Djokovic did not win any slams last season, he accomplished his biggest goal – capturing Olympic gold in the men’s singles for the first time in his career. When healthy and motivated (as he is at the moment) Djokovic remains one of the best players on tour.
Having failed to win a single tournament in 2024, Medvedev is flying under the radar going into the Australian Open. Fortunately for bettors, the odds reflect as much.
Getting Medvedev at +1400 is without question a steal – and the highest number at which he has been priced for any Grand Slam outside of the French Open in at least six years.
Hard courts always give Medvedev his best chance. The World No. 5 is a former U.S. Open champion (2021) and he has finished runner-up in New York and Melbourne a combined five times.
Nobody on the WTA Tour has looked better than Gauff in the very early stages of this 2025 campaign. The world No. 3 opened the new year by leading the United States to victory at the United Cup team competition in Perth and Sydney.
Gauff compiled a 5-0 record in the singles side of that tournament without dropping a set, earning victories over Swiatek and Karolina Muchova along the way.
Combined with a season-ending triumph at the WTA Finals this past fall, Gauff is currently on a nine-match winning streak. A semifinalist at the Aussie Open in 2024, there is no reason why she can’t go two steps farther this time around.
It’s generally a good idea to go fishing for some longshots at a Grand Slam, especially at the Australian Open, which is often the most unpredictable of the four since it is played at the start of the year and players have been away from the match court for a while.
If you are in the business of backing someone at lofty odds, Emma Navarro should be the play on the women’s side.
The 23-year-old American surged from No. 38 in the rankings at the start of last year to No. 8 by the end. Her two best slam results came at Wimbledon (quarterfinals) and the U.S. Open (semifinals), so she is trending in the right direction on the sport’s biggest stages.
Read the latest Australian Open news on site.
Jannik Sinner | +137 |
Carlos Alcaraz | +350 |
Novak Djokovic | +350 |
Alexander Zverev | +1000 |
Daniil Medvedev | +1400 |
Stefanos Tsitsipas | +2800 |
Taylor Fritz | +2800 |
Aryna Sabalenka | +225 |
Coco Gauff | +400 |
Iga Swiatek | +500 |
Elena Rybakina | +800 |
Qinwen Zheng | +1400 |
Karolina Muchova | +2000 |
Naomi Osaka | +2200 |
Read the latest tennis news on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.