There’s no place like home. But, what can we say about Novak Djokovic? He has at least three places he can call home. One in Monte Carlo where he lives. One in Serbia where he’s from. The last one is in the land down under and it is called the Australian Open.
No person dead or alive has won the Australian Open trophy as many times as Novak has. One of the greats, if not the greatest tennis player of all time, will try to repeat that feat once again.
If you ask us if anyone can beat Novak the answer is no. Did we come to this conclusion too fast? Maybe yes but history and number of wins speak for themselves. After all, the GOAT himself has won the AO staggering ten times. He would have had eleven, but let’s not talk about one of the biggest injustices in the history of tennis.
What puts Djokovic on the pedestal despite skipping on one AO is that he played ten finals and won ten. That statistics can’t be overseen and it will never be bettered. So, can anyone beat Djokovic?
Djokovic is Clear-Cut Australian Open Favorite
Novak Djokovic has been a favorite in every tournament he plays for years. With Rafael Nadal out of the picture, there is no one from the old guard battling him. So, Novak had no choice but to take the new generation of tennis stars head-on. He did it and he kept on winning. That’s why he’s still favored to win AO with his odds set at +100.
If you’re a betting man, don’t hesitate to put your faith and money on the Serbian wonder maker. With three rounds of the tournament already behind us, and Novak getting his groove back you would be wasting time by not trying your luck with Novak.
But, you need to know that the payout won’t be too big, considering that you’d be putting your money on the hot favorite. For a bigger payout, seeing that you’re eyeing the land down under, you might have more luck with online pokies which is something you can do if you click here.
Carlos Alcaraz
The young Spanish prodigy managed to beat Djokovic at Wimbledon last year proving that the Serb can be beaten. Carlos Alcazar will try to do the same in Australia, but he’ll need more than pure skill.
Bookmakers believe that he can be the one taking Novak down and thus have set his odds at +310. This is almost the best odds you can get when pitted against Novak and the AO title.
Jannik Sinner
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Here is another Djokovic arch-enemy from the new generation of tennis talent. It is an exaggeration to call anyone his arch-enemy but Nadal and Roger but, we need to make things a little bit spicy, no? After all, Sinner is one of those guys who managed to beat Novak more than once.
That’s giving him a pretty good chance. When you look at the draw for this tournament you can see that the two men will meet before the finals. That only means one thing – by using pure logic, the Italian tennis player has more chances of beating Djokovic than Alcaraz, because there’s no way Novak will lose this final when he gets there.
Daniil Medvedev
In recent years whenever we talk about semi-finals and finals of major tennis tournaments the name of Daniil Medvedev is always there. One could argue that he’s this generation’s Andy Murray.
The man who can go far but not necessarily up until the end. It is a player who can win against any rival but also lose in the most uninspiring fashion. With his odds of winning this year’s Australian Open standing at +900, you can see that the bookmakers do not rate him too high.
Alexander Zverev
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Zverev fits in the same group of players as Medvedev. The two share similar origins and their tennis appearance and body of work are rather similar. Zverev is trailing a bit behind Daniil, and bookmakers are not shy to reflect this in their odds.
With his odds set at +2500 both you and us can tell that his chances are quite low to win the whole thing. If that happens, you can paint us shocked.
Could There be a Dark Horse Winner?
When it comes to tennis, one could argue that the dark horse wins quite rarely. When you look at the last twenty years of professional tennis the story was painted by the names of Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal. Yes, there were surprises here and there, but they were few and far between. The same can be said for this edition of the Australian Open.
Beyond the names we already listed it is hard to argue that a dark horse could arise from the rest of the players and take the title home. Will you argue with us? The names that have an outside chance to mount a title challenge and try to dethrone the king, that Novak Djokovic without doubt is, include Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov, and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The latter certainly shouldn’t be ignored because he’s the man who was in the final the last time around. While wonders are possible in the sports domain we wouldn’t hold water for any of these players to make it to the final, let less beat the man on the other side.
Will History be Written?
The answer to this question is yes. If Novak Djokovic wins he will be the only man who won eleven titles at the Australian Open and the one who took home all the wins from every AO final he participated in. This will be written in the history books for sure.
But, even if he manages to lose a final, or even fail to reach it, history will be written all the same as the Australian Open will have a new champion who is not Novak, Rafa, or Roger.
In the last decade or so the only man that managed to stop their cycle is the legendary Stan Wawrinka. For many of these young lads that would be the first AO ever too and that is something worth looking for, whenever it arrives.
Bottom Line
Can anyone beat Djokovic at the Australian Open? Yes, there’s a chance. Will it happen this year? We wouldn’t hold our breath if we were you. Novak is just good, and he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder. After all, he’s a Serb and he will not let 2022 be forgotten all that easily. You’ll have to put up with his dominance just for a little bit.
