Betting the Australian Open 2027: Melbourne dates, the 2026 champions and our outright view

The 2026 champions

Both 2026 finals were won by a player who dropped a set in the final itself. The men's result followed the seedings; the women's did not.

Alcaraz lost the opening set of the final and then took control. The title was his first in Melbourne and his seventh major, and it completed his career Grand Slam; ausopen.com notes he is the youngest man to do so. He reached the final by beating Alexander Zverev in four sets, two of them on tiebreaks. Djokovic, a ten-time champion here, came through a five-set semi-final against the defending champion Jannik Sinner.

The men's draw was unusually orderly. For the first time in the Open Era, every player who reached the fourth round of a major was seeded. That matters for anyone weighing Australian Open odds on an outsider: in 2026 the early rounds rewarded the market's favourites.

Rybakina's run was the opposite story for the seedings. As fifth seed she beat Iga Swiatek 7–5 6–1 in the semi-final, then the top seed Sabalenka in three sets. It was her second major after Wimbledon in 2022 and made her the first player from Kazakhstan to win a singles title in Melbourne. Sabalenka had beaten Elina Svitolina in straight sets to reach the final. The 2025 champion, Madison Keys, went out in the fourth round to Jessica Pegula.

What the rest of 2026 told us

Australian Open odds for January are built largely on the three Slams that followed. Here is how they finished, taken from the official tournament sites.

On the men's side, Zverev was the player of the year at the Slams: a semi-final in Melbourne, then titles in Paris and New York either side of the Wimbledon final. His only losses at majors came against Alcaraz and Sinner. Sinner won Wimbledon but lost early in Paris. Alcaraz has the Melbourne title to defend.

On the women's side, Rybakina won two of the four Slams and, per ausopen.com, the US Open title took her to world No.1. Sabalenka lost both of those finals to her. Andreeva, 19 when she won in Paris, and Nosková at Wimbledon were first-time major champions, which shows how wide the women's draw still is.

How to bet a Grand Slam

Four kinds of market cover most of what is offered on a Slam, and each suits a different view.

Outrights. A bet on the tournament winner, and the market most people mean by Australian Open odds. With 128 players the margin built into this market is wide, so the same name can carry noticeably different prices from one site to the next. Outrights open months ahead and move on every result in the run-up.

Section betting. Once the draw is made, the field is split into quarters, and you can back a player to win their section. This lets you back a strong player stuck in the same half as the favourite without needing them to win seven matches.

Match lines. The match winner, game handicaps and total games. In best-of-five matches the favourite usually wins, but the handicap and the total are where a long match changes the outcome of the bet.

Set betting. The exact score in sets: 3–0, 3–1 or 3–2 for men, 2–0 or 2–1 for women. Prices are higher than the match winner because you need the shape of the match right, not only the result.

One rule to check before any tennis bet is how a site settles a retirement. Some void the bet if a player quits mid-match, others settle once a set is complete. Over a two-week event played in the Australian summer, it is worth knowing the rule in advance.

Our outright view for 2027

Everything below is our opinion, not a forecast, and we quote no operator prices.

Men. Our view: we expect Alcaraz, Sinner and Zverev to head the Australian Open odds through the winter, likely in that order or close to it. Alcaraz is defending champion. Sinner reached the semi-final here in 2026 and won Wimbledon. Zverev won two Slams in 2026, but he lost to Alcaraz in Melbourne and to Sinner at Wimbledon. Our pick at this range is Sinner, whose hard-court record and best-of-five game we rate highly, and we would only back Zverev each-way at a price that respects his two finals lost to the other two.

Women. Our view: Rybakina starts as the defending champion and world No.1, and we would put her at the top of the market. Sabalenka reached the final in Melbourne and New York, so she is the obvious threat, but at a short expected price she does not appeal. We prefer smaller stakes on Rybakina and on Andreeva, whose title in Paris came at 19.

Australian Open odds for the same player can differ from site to site, so compare prices before you back an outright. Our guide to sites with the best odds shows how much the same price can differ.

For the operators themselves, read our comparison of no verification betting sites: verification triggers, withdrawal caps and deadlines.

More in the same section: Kentucky Derby.

Where to watch

Rights to the Australian Open are sold country by country, so national broadcasters are the dependable way to follow it. Ausopen.com and the official app carry live scores, the draw and the order of play.

A number of betting sites stream some tennis to logged-in customers. We point out which of the sites we review offer this, but coverage of a Slam varies widely by site and by country, so check what is available to you before play starts on 17 January.

More tennis and sports betting

Our tennis betting guide covers the markets that apply all season. For the grass Slam, see Wimbledon odds and grass-court betting. Every other sport we cover sits on the sports hub.

We will update these Australian Open odds notes after the draw in January.

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