We’re still a month away from the 2022 season and the season-opening tennis tournament, but it’s never too early to look at the ATP betting odds and discuss who will kick off the new season with a bang.
So today, we deliver you with a free Tennis Betting preview for the 2022 Australian Open, where we discuss the main favorites and provide you with early Australian Open Betting predictions.
Early 2022 Australian Open Betting Preview
Tennis Betting Analysis for ATP 2022 Australian Open
- When: January 17 – 30
- Where: Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The 2022 ATP season is slated to kick off on Monday, January 17, with the 2022 Australian Open, which will take place at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As the opening Grand Slam of the year, the tournament will feature only the best tennis players of the world, who will duke it out for the prestigious title and the winner’s share of over $2 million.
Novak Djokovic enters the 110th edition of the Australian Open as the defending champion and the bookie’s favorite as he chases his 10th Australian trophy.
However, he will face stiff competition from Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, who already proved that they could take on the current no.1 last season.
Players to Watch Out For
- Novak Djokovic (+155)
Novak Djokovic made his Australian Open debut as a teenager, way back in 2005, and won his first trophy only three years later, at the age of 20. Since then, the Serb has added eight more titles to his cabinet, including three from the last three years.
With nine titles to his name and three from 2019, 2020, and 2021, Djokovic enters the 110th edition of the tournament not only as the defending champion but the most successful player of the Open Era. What’s more, Djokovic has never lost a final in Melbourne and has previously defeated all of his biggest rivals, including Dominic Thiem, Rafael Nadal, and Daniil Medvedev.
It’s hard to doubt Djokovic and his chances to win his 10th Australian Open title, and it’s even tougher to question the bookies’ decision to price him as the main favorite.
- Daniil Medvedev (+285)
Daniil Medvedev has never won the Australian Open before and has made it past R4 only once in his career. However, the Russian tennis star reached the finals in 2021, which was a huge jump from his back-to-back R4 exits in 2019 and 2020.
Even in 2019, Medvedev lost only against Djokovic, who would go on to win the whole thing, and in 2020, he lost a closely-contested R4 bout with Stan Wawrinka, who edged out a 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory.
But while Medvedev has never reached the same heights as Djokovic, he was the man to deny the Serb from completing the Grand Slam in 2021, when he won the U.S. Open grand final in straight sets (6-4, 6-4, 6-4).
Admittedly, it was on a different surface; however, with that win, Medvedev proved that he could compete with Djokovic and even defeat him.
Winning the U.S. Open was Medvedev’s greatest achievement of his career and his first Grand Slam title. Obviously, Medvedev is still way off catching up to Djokovic, but he enters the 2022 season off the best year of his career, which saw him win one Grand Slam, reach one final, and one quarter-final (French Open).
- Rafael Nadal (+970)
It’s been a while since we could last say that Rafael Nadal is the best player in the world. Although he will go down in history as one of the top tennis players to ever step onto the court, his performances in 2021 left a lot to be desired.
The 40-year-old enters his 17th Australian Open as the fourth-favorite on the ATP betting markets, which seems about fair, considering he will need a minor miracle to make it past Djokovic, Medveved, and even Zverev.
And that is mainly because the Swiss had been struggling with a knee injury, and it remains to be seen whether he will fully recover from the operation before the Australian tennis spectacle.
Though he still deserves respect as one of the most consistent players of the Australian Open. Admittedly, he has only one title (2009), but he has since reached four finals and six quarter-finals.
The Swiss’ worst placement over that stretch was a R1 exit in 2016, when he lost against Fernando Verdasco, marking the first Major hardcourt first-round loss of his career.