Australian Open Tips & Predictions

Australian Open tips and predictions: the 2027 dates, the reigning champions and how to bet every market at Melbourne Park.

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the tennis year and the one Australian punters can actually watch at a civilised hour. Played on hard courts at Melbourne Park every January, it runs for a fortnight and decides the season’s first major titles. This page covers when the next one is, how the markets work and where the value usually sits.

When Is the Next Australian Open?

The 2027 Australian Open runs at Melbourne Park from Sunday 11 January to Sunday 31 January 2027. Opening Week takes up 11 to 16 January, main draw play follows, and the singles finals are on 30 and 31 January.

The Reigning Champions

Carlos Alcaraz won the 2026 men’s title, beating Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 to complete the career Grand Slam at 22, the youngest man to do it. Elena Rybakina took the women’s title, beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 for her second major. Both go in as defending champions.

Australian Open Betting Markets

• Outright winner. Priced from months out and the deepest market of the fortnight. Prices move hardest when the draw is released, because a seed landing in the wrong quarter matters more at a Slam than anywhere else.
• Match head-to-head. Best-of-five for the men and best-of-three for the women, which is why favourites hold up better in the men’s draw: there is more time for class to tell.
• Set betting. Pick the exact scoreline. Long odds on a short-priced favourite, and a sensible way to back a straight-sets blowout.
• Games handicap. A margin applied to total games won. Useful when a favourite is unbackable outright. See our line betting guide for how a handicap settles.
• Total games over/under. Driven by serve quality. Big servers push totals up because breaks are rare.
• Australian specials. Top Australian, and whether a local reaches a given round. Usually the softest market of the tournament because the bookmaker is pricing sentiment as much as form.

What Makes Melbourne Different

Three things move Australian Open markets in ways the other majors do not. The heat is the big one: five-set tennis in a Melbourne January punishes players short of conditioning, and the heat policy can suspend play or close the roofs, which changes conditions mid-match. The surface is a medium-paced hard court that rewards ball-strikers over grinders. And it is the first Slam of the year, so form is thin: players arrive off an off-season and a couple of warm-up events, which makes early-round upsets more common here than at Wimbledon or the US Open.

Where to Bet

Prices vary more between books on tournament outrights than on single matches, so it pays to hold a few accounts. Compare our best betting sites in Australia, or see the newest betting sites in Australia.

FAQs

When is the Australian Open 2027?

From Sunday 11 January to Sunday 31 January 2027 at Melbourne Park, with the singles finals on 30 and 31 January.

Who won the most recent Australian Open?

Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in the 2026 men’s final, completing the career Grand Slam, and Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka to win the women’s title.

What time do Australian Open matches start?

Day sessions usually begin at 11am AEDT and night sessions from 7pm AEDT. It is the only Slam played entirely in an Australian time zone, which is why it draws far more local betting turnover than the other three.

What surface is the Australian Open played on?

A medium-paced acrylic hard court. It sits between the quick grass of Wimbledon and the slow clay of Roland Garros, and generally favours aggressive baseliners.

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