Australian Open Men’s Odds: Medvedev New Favorite to Win Tournament

Even though the 2022 Australian Open isn’t set to begin a few more days, it’s constantly been in the news as of late due to the Novak Djokovic vaccine controversy.

In the latest update on that story, Australia has decided to cancel Djokovic’s visa once again, meaning that he will no longer be able to compete in the annual event. With him potentially being banned from the continent for three years, we may have already seen the last of him at the Aussie Open.

Nevertheless, Djokovic’s absence means that there will be a new tournament winner this year. According to BetOnline’s latest betting odds, Daniil Medvedev is the new Australian Open favorite at a promising +150 odds.

This year marks Medvedev’s sixth time competing at Melbourne Park in his young career. The 25-year-old Russian has never won the tournament, although, he has made it at least to the fourth round in each of his last four three outings. That includes last year’s event when he lost to Djokovic in the finals. Considering how his victory came in three sets, it’s clear that he’ll want to avenge himself this year.

Fortunately, Medvedev went on to have a season to remember. He went on to win four titles in 2021, however, none were bigger than when he won the U.S. Open in September — his first-ever time winning a Grand Slam Championship.

Now, he will look to continue that momentum as he attempts to take the next step to greatness. With Djokovic no longer a threat this year, Medvedev has a great opportunity to carve out his own legacy at the Australian Open.

Alexander Zverev Australian Open Men’s Odds

While Medvedev is the clear-cut Australian Open favorite, Alexander Zverev isn’t too far behind him at +300 odds.

Zverev has competed in the tournament six times throughout his career, boasting a 16-6 record at the Aussie Open. While he’s yet to win it all, he made it to the semifinals in 2020 before being eliminated in four sets by Djokovic in last year’s quarterfinals.

After the 2021 Australian Open, Zverev went on to have a campaign that saw him continue to have impressive Grand Slam performances. He made it to the semifinals at both the French Open and U.S. Open, while also making it to the fourth round at Wimbledon. He ended up winning six total titles, including an ATP Finals victory over Medvedev and a gold medal at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.

At the end of the day, there are few tennis players who had a better calendar year than Zverev, making him a likely candidate to win the 2022 Australian Open.

2022 Aussie Open Men’s Odds: Rafael Nadal

Someone who has a lot of experience at the Australian Open is none other than Rafael Nadal (+800). The 35-year-old veteran has entered the tournament 16 times over his storied career. Now, he’ll need to use that experience to overcome his younger competitors.

Nadal has found himself in the Aussie Open finals five times in his 16 outings, or rather 31.3% of the time. Unfortunately, he’s only managed to take home the title once, which came all the way back in 2009.

While it’s been a while since Nadal has won the Australian Open, he’s made it to the quarterfinals in five straight years, which includes two finals appearances. Perhaps now that the competition is a bit easier with Djokovic out of the way, the Spaniard can finally overcome the hump.

Nadal did just win the Melbourne Summer Set a little under a week ago, so maybe he can use that momentum to catapult him to his second Australian Open victory.