The battle for the Australian Open title is almost upon us and there could be a new name on the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup come January 29, with Matteo Berrettini lurking in the wings.
World number five Novak Djokovic returns to Melbourne after missing the 2022 edition and he is the 10/11 favourite to land a record-extending 10th title Down Under, while reigning champion Rafael Nadal is 16/1 to repeat his heroics from 12 months ago.
Ahead of the opening day’s play, we have delved into the outright markets and picked out a couple of selections for the men’s event.
Men’s Australian Open 2023 Betting Tips
Matteo Berrettini to win and each-way @ 40/1
There have only been two male Italian players that have managed to taste Grand Slam success – Nicola Pietrangeli at the French Open in 1959 and 1960 and Adriano Panatta at the 1976 edition in Paris.
Flavia Pennetta was the most recent Italian to win one of the ‘Big Four’ events, clinching the women’s 2015 US Open, but the European country’s wait for another Grand Slam champion could come to an end this month.
Matteo Berrettini has been making a name for himself over the past few years and he managed to reach the final at Wimbledon in 2021, losing out to Djokovic in four sets after taking the opener.
The 26-year-old reached the semi-final stage in Melbourne last year – his best run in the tournament – and there is a good chance he can defy his odds and go all the way this time round.
It is not the easiest route to the final for Berrettini, who has Casper Ruud and Djokovic in his side of the draw, but his monster serve and thunderous forehand give him a great chance of breaking his Grand Slam duck.
Felix Auger-Aliassime to win Quarter 2 @ 4/1
There are some interesting quarters in the men’s draw and none more so than the second one, which has Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Cameron Norrie in.
While those three are undoubtedly talented, there could be more value in backing Canadian hotshot Felix Auger-Aliassime to win Quarter 2 at 4/1.
The 22-year-old may be yet to break his Grand Slam duck but he has plenty of time on his side and, like Berrettini, he enjoyed his best run in Melbourne in 2022 when reaching the quarter-finals.
Auger-Aliassime, who is the sixth seed, has a relatively easy route to the fourth round where he could face 11th seed Norrie, so the Canadian should hold no fears in the early stages.
It’s also worth noting that the big server does the majority of his best work on hard courts, with all four of his ATP Tour titles coming on this surface – the most recent of those at the Swiss Indoors in October 2022.
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