The first Grand Slam on the tennis calendar is almost here as the best players in the world are in Melbourne for the Australian Open.
These are my Australian Open best bets to target on DraftKings Sportsbook in the futures market.
2026 Australian Open Odds: Men’s Singles
The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the 2026 tennis season. It can often be one of the most unpredictable events of the tennis calendar because it is the first major event of the year. The other three Grand Slams are now so close on the calendar that often the same in-form players perform well at all of those events. However, because of when the Australian Open takes place, some players have been mostly resting from competitive tennis for the past couple of months, while others have been grinding to get ready for this event. Of course, all eyes will be on Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in Australia.
Sinner and Alcaraz have combined to win all eight Grand Slams over the past two years, nabbing four apiece. Sinner has been the man to beat in Australia, however. He has won back-to-back Australian Open titles and is hoping to make it a three-peat this season. This is one event that Carlos Alcaraz has struggled with over his career. Not only has Alcaraz never won the Australian Open, but he has never even made it past the quarterfinals. Despite his brilliance, it’s hard to back Carlos Alcaraz at +160 when he has never proven that he can go the distance in Melbourne. The question then comes down to whether to pay the juice on Sinner at -125, or to try to hit a longshot. Despite winning each of the last two Australian Opens, there is no value on Sinner at this number, especially at the most unpredictable of the four Grand Slams.
The next tier of players after the big two is Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Taylor Fritz. Djokovic no longer has the stamina to make it through the grind of a Grand Slam, while Taylor Fritz has never performed particularly well at this event. That leaves Zverev and Medvedev as the two best options to bet on. Zverev made the Australian Open against Sinner last year, but was beaten handily 3-0. He is 0-5 against Sinner since the start of the 2024 season. He has also never proven that he can go the distance and win a Grand Slam.
That is why my best bet for the Australian Open is Daniil Medvedev at 30/1. Medvedev is a longshot because he was in poor form last season, particularly at the Grand Slams. However, outside of Sinner, Alcaraz and Djokovic, he is the only serious contender at this event with a Grand Slam title to his name. Medvedev also has a great history at the Australian Open, making three finals in his career, most recently in 2024. He has found some form in recent months, making it to the quarterfinals in Paris, winning in Kazakhstan and making it to the semfinals in both Beijing and Shanghai.
Medvedev has beaten Sinner as recently as the 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinals. While he has been inconsistent over the last couple of years, when he brings his A-game, he is one of the only players in the world capable of beating Sinner or Alcaraz. Medvedev has made six Grand Slam finals over the past seven years, and those have all come on hardcourt. He is playing well in Brisbane ahead of the Australian Open, into the quarterfinals after defeating Frances Tiafoe as of the time of writing this. Medvedev should be full of confidence in Melbourne and has a good chance for a deep run. If he faces Sinner in a final, these long 30/1 odds would present a chance to hedge out as well.
Best Bet: Daniil Medvedev (+3000)
2026 Australian Open Odds: Women’s Singles
The women’s side has been much more wide open in recent years, compared to the dominance from Sinner and Alcaraz on the men’s side. Aryna Sabalenka has undoubtedly been the best player in the world the last couple of years and she has been a consistent performer in Grand Slams, but it has not been a run of dominance in terms of titles. Last season, four different women won the four Grand Slam titles, with Sabalenka not securing a major title until the US Open.
All of that being said, Sabalenka is without question the player to beat, especially on hardcourt. Sabalenka has made six straight Grand Slam finals on hardcourt, including three straight in Australia. She made it to the final last year with the chance to three-peat, but lost to Madison Keys. While it seems inevitable that Sabalenka will make a run to the semifinals or final once again, there is one particular challenger worth betting on with much longer odds.
My best bet on the women’s side of the Australian Open is on Amanda Anisimova at 11/1. Anisimova had a true breakout in 2025, making it to the last two Grand Slam finals of the season. Anisimova was also one of the great sports stories of last year. She was a young phenom who had her breakout win here in Australia in 2019. However, she went on a poor run of form and ended up taking a break from the sport to focus on her mental health. She returned to the sport in 2024, then got to the top of the game in 2025.
In order to win this title, there is a good chance Anisimova would need to beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final. That would be quite fitting, since her breakout win was over Sabalenka at the Australian Open as a 17-year-old in 2019. Later that season, she upset Sabalenka again at the French Open. In 2025, Anisimova beat Sabalenka again in the French Open semifinals to advance to her first-ever major final. Sabalenka finally got her revenge when the two faced off again a few weeks later in the US Open Final. However, Anisimova is 6-5 in her career against Sabalenka, one of the only players on the planet with a winning record against the World No. 1. Anisimova was on fire to end 2025 and should come into this tournament full of confidence. At these odds, she is the player to bet on to win the women’s singles
