Top five betting favourites make quarter-finals of Australian Open

The men’s Australian Open 2024 quarter-finals are set. Despite several dark horses making waves in the tournament’s early rounds, the last eight paint a very predictable picture. With the five pre-tournament favourites according to Aussie bookmakers all making the quarter-finals, we look at how the second week of action is likely to unfold. 

Opening week of Australian Open promises upsets 

Mid-way through the first week of the Australian Open, it looked like this could be a tournament where upsets would abound.  

French wildcard Arthur Cazaux sent number eight seed Holger Rune crashing out in the second round. Soon after, Portuguese player Nuno Borges, ranked 69 in the world, sent the in-form Grigor Dimitrov packing.  

Other players struggled. World number six Alexander Zverev was taken all the way to a final set tiebreaker by Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein. Casper Ruud, the number 11 seed, also needed a fifth set tiebreaker to see off world number 45 Max Purcell. Americans Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul, all seeded between 14 and 17, failed to clear the third round. 

Even the indomitable Novak Djokovic appeared to be having a hard time. The 24-time Grand Slam champion spent over four hours on court to win his first-round match against 18-year-old Dino Prizmic, before also dropping a set in the second round to world number 43 Alexei Popyrin. 

Those rooting for the underdogs had plenty to cheer about in Melbourne. 

Big names come through in Australia 

Despite all promises of this being an Australian Open where an unseeded player makes a deep run, the big names came through. 

Heading into the tournament, bet365 had Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev as the top five betting favourites to win the Australian Open. With the quarter-finals now set at Melbourne Park, all five are still a live chance of doing so. 
The only two upsets are Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz moving through to the last eight.

International betting sites had these two at 81.00 to win the tournament, with both Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune ahead of them. However, it’s no surprise that Rune and Tsitsipas failed to go deep in Melbourne. The pair may have been seeded number seven and eight respectively but both were in patchy form ahead of the Australian Open. 

Australian Open 2024 on track for Djokovic vs Alcaraz final 

With the top six seeds all making the quarter-finals in Melbourne, one of the most exciting rivalries of 2023 is on track to have its next chapter written in the 2024 Australian Open final. 
Djokovic and Alcaraz meet on four occasions in 2023. The pair were head and shoulders above the rest of the ATP Tour, but thanks to injuries, had to wait until May before their first clash of the season. Since then, they met in the Roland-Garros semi-finals, Wimbledon final, Cincinnati Masters final, and the Nitto ATP Finals semi-final. The result was some jaw-dropping tennis, with Djokovic coming out on top in three of the four encounters. 

With the pair never meeting before at the Australian Open, all is looking set for a Djokovic vs Alcaraz final. Both are in strong form, with the Serbian needing to see off Fritz in his quarter-final, before a likely semi-final against Sinner. Alcaraz, on the other hand, faces Zverev in the quarter-finals, with Medvedev his probable semi-final opponent.

Betting sites had a Djokovic vs Alcaraz final at 4.00 pre-tournament, the most likely outcome by far. Given how predictable the men’s draw has been so far this Australian Open, will we see continue to see the quarter-finals and semi-finals unfold as expected?