Australian Open 2020 Odds: Who Is the Favorite to Win in Melbourne?

Reporter

Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are the overwhelming favorites to win the Australian Open this year.

The 108th edition of the first Grand Slam tournament of the season gets underway in Melbourne on Monday and bookmakers believe Djokovic and Williams are in pole position to add an eighth Australian Open title to their respective collections.

The defending champion, the Serb is a 6/5 favorite according to Oddschecker, comfortably ahead of world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who is second-favorite at 5/1.

Djokovic thrashed Nadal in straight sets in the final last year and defeated the Spaniard in Sydney last week, extending a winning run over Nadal on hard courts to nine matches.

Behind the duo, Russia's Daniil Medvedev and Roger Federer are 9/1 and 12/1 shots respectively.

The Russian is the current No. 4 in the world and lost an epic five-set thriller against Nadal in the U.S. Open final in September. A first Grand Slam title looks to be only a matter of time.

Federer, meanwhile, won in Melbourne in 2017 and 2018 but his hopes of drawing level with Djokovic on seven Australian Open titles appear remote. The world No. 3 skipped the ATP Cup earlier this month to preserve his fitness, but it remains to be seen whether the lack of practice on hard courts this season may offset the benefits of a lighter schedule.

Between them, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have scooped up the last 12 major titles and the Serb hopes to keep the young guns like Medvedev, Austria's Dominic Thiem and Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas at bay for a while longer.

"We are hoping that this is not going to be the year when they are going to win a Grand Slam," he told ATP.com.

"That's what we are working on. But let's see. I think that's inevitable, it's going to happen. When and if it happens it's going to be great for the sport."

Among the women, meanwhile, Williams begins the tournament as the favorite to win a first Grand Slam title since triumphing in Melbourne in 2017.

The American returned from maternity leave in 2018 and has reached the final at Wimbledon and at the U.S. Open in the last two seasons, losing on each occasion.

Williams is a 17/4 favorite to add an eighth Australian Open crown to her trophy cabinet, which would represent a 24th Grand Slam title overall.

Last week, the 38-year-old beat her fellow American Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Auckland Classic to clinch her first title since giving birth.

"It's been a long time; I think you could see the relief on my face," she said.

Behind Williams, world No. 1 and local favorite Ashleigh Barty and defending champion Naomi Osaka are both 8/1 shots to triumph at Melbourne Park.

Women's tennis has been remarkably open over the last three years, with nine different winners in the last 11 Grand Slam tournaments and seven different players holding the world No. 1 at some stage.