2024 Australian Open: Men’s Top 5 Outright Favourites

The first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, resumes on the 14th of January with the players eager to put themselves on the history books. In the men’s section, the news of the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal is hard to take as he was going to bring much-needed competition. The Spanish great Nadal spent much whole of last year battling with the injury and his comeback has been pushed back once again. Let’s take a look at some men’s players that are favorites to win the Australian Open.

Holger Rune

The former World no 4 Holger Rune has grown the reputation as one of the toughest competitors on the court. At the age of 20, he managed to reach the quarter-finals of the French and Wimbledon Opens last year. That alone shows how talented he is. In preparation for the Australian Open, he reached the Brisbane Open final losing to Grigor Dimitrov. The Danish ace is coached by legendary Boris Becker and has managed to get the best out of him. His best record in the tournament is the fourth round he obtained last year.

Danil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev loves hardcourt, Isn’t it? Out of 66 victories last year, 49 of those came from the hardcourt. In his career, he has reached five Grand Slam finals on hardcourt winning one which is US Open in 2021. He returns to Australia, a place where he has come short twice of winning a Grand Slam. In 2021, he lost in the final to Novak Djokovic then the following year, Rafael Nadal was the man to stop him from claiming the glory. The 27-year-old World no 3 will want to make a statement this time on his favorite court.

Jannik Sinner

Can Jannik Sinner finally show true potential? Sinner has been long-tipped as one of the players expected to dominate the game in the future. Still 22- years old, Sinner has all the years to show the world what he is made of. Last year, he managed to reach the Grand Slam semi-finals for the first time in his career during the Wimbledon Open. The world no 4 will hope to go further in the competition as his best effort being the quarterfinals in 2022. As one of the hard-hitting players on the court, opponents will have to find it hard to stop him.

Carlos Alcaraz

Often compared to Rafael Nadal for his aggressive style of play. At the age of 20, Carlos Alcaraz is already listed among the best players in the world. It no doubt he has been ranked one in the ATP rankings in the past. He is a player who denied Novak Djovokic to claim all four Grand Slam titles last year by defeating him in the Wimbledon final. He already has two major trophies in his cabinet after winning the 2022 US Open and would be eager to add one. His record though in Australia is not on his side as he hasn’t progressed past the third round before. So, he is driven to make his presence count this time around.

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic will enter the competition as the overwhelming favorite to clinch the Australian Open title. The 36-year-old Serbian International has a perfect record in Australia as he has claimed a record 10 titles and is hoping to extend it. He has achieved a record 24 Grand Slam titles, and it seems like there is no stopping. There are some concerns as he has suffered a wrist injury during the United Cup. During that cup, he was shockingly defeated by Alex De Minaur 6-4, 6-4, to bring down a 43-match winning streak to an end. Nevertheless, Djokovic is coming on a year where he won 3 of the 4 Grand Slams. It was only Wimbledon Open he failed to win losing to the final to Carlos Alcaraz. So, underestimate him at your peril.