Australian Open 2024: 5 dark horses for the men's singles title ft. Ben Shelton and Alex de Minaur

The 2024 Australian Open is almost upon us, with the Happy Slam set to kick off on January 14.

All eyes are naturally on the big guns, with Novak Djokovic's quest for a historic 25th Major title being the biggest storyline. His younger rivals remain hot on his trail, with Carlos Alcaraz leading the pack.

Rafael Nadal's withdrawal came as a blow to many fans, who were eagerly awaiting his return to the venue. He has now missed four consecutive Majors since his second-round exit from last year's Australian Open.

There has been plenty of talk about either Djokovic or Alcaraz walking away with the title. However, there's also a chance of an unheralded champion surprising everyone.

On that note, here's a look at five players who could emerge from the shadows to win the title:

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#5 Tommy Paul

Tommy Paul at the 2024 Adelaide International.

Paul raised his game by a fair margin last year and even made the semifinals at the Australian Open, his first at a Major. He's now quite close to making his top-10 debut too, but first will need to defend the points he accumulated here last year.

Paul is in the same half of the draw as Alcaraz, whom he has beaten twice in the past, but has also lost to him on two occasions. The two could meet in the fourth round, but before that, the American will need to deal with Jack Draper in the second round.

Draper knocked out Paul in the quarterfinals of the Adelaide International on Thursday. He's got a tricky draw in Melbourne, but if he improves his gameplay compared to last year, he's going to go further this time.

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#4 Frances Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe at the 2024 Kooyong Classic

The Australian Open is where it all began for Frances Tiafoe as he shot into the limelight with a quarterfinal finish here back in 2019. It was his first time doing so at a Major and he knocked out players like Kevin Anderson and Grigor Dimitrov before falling to Nadal.

Tiafoe has since bettered that result with a semifinal showing at the 2022 US Open. He recently lost to Juncheng Shang in the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Open at the start of the new season.

While the American's form has been shaky of late, it doesn't take much for him to get going. If Tiafoe catches fire during these two weeks, he could very well nab his maiden Major title here.

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#3 Sebastian Korda

Sebastian Korda at the 2024 Adelaide International

Korda reached his very first Grand Slam quarterfinal at last year's Australian Open, but was forced to retire halfway through his match due to an injury. It derailed his season by a fair margin as well.

Korda made a shaky start to the new year with a loss to Yannick Hanfmann in his Brisbane International opener. He has bounced back nicely after the initial setback and is currently in the semifinals of the Adelaide International. The American will face Jiri Lehecka for a spot in the final on Friday (January 12).

Korda seems to be in a much better shape this time around. He's a junior Australian Open champion and his father, Petr Korda, won the title in Melbourne in 1998. He has the game to follow in his father's footsteps and become a champion here too.

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#2 Alex de Minaur

Alex de Minaur at the 2024 Australian Open

De Minaur captured everyone's attention with his exploits at the United Cup. He became the first player to defeat Djokovic in Australia since 2018 and snapped his 43-match unbeaten run in the country.

As a result of his United Cup heroics, de Minaur became the first Australian to crack the top 10 of the ATP rankings since Lleyton Hewitt in 2006. He has also steadily improved his performance in Melbourne over the years.

After a couple of early exits in 2017 and 2018, de Minaur reached the third round of the season's first Major in his next two attempts. The last couple of years he has bowed out in the fourth round. Given his current form, the 24-year-old looks to make it a lot further this time around.

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#1 Ben Shelton

Ben Shelton at the 2024 ASB Classic

Shelton rose to prominence with his quarterfinal run at last year's Australian Open. While he didn't do much after that, he captured everyone's attention once again with a semifinal appearance at the US Open.

Shelton suffered a surprise defeat to Roman Safiullin in his Brisbane opener, but has regrouped impressively after that. He's currently a semifinalist at the ASB Classic, with Taro Daniel standing between him and a place in the final.

Shelton played with a lot more freedom last year since it was his first full season on the tour. Now that he's got a lot more expectations on him, the pressure could hinder him to an extent.

But so far, the young American has remained unfazed and doesn't mind the spotlight being on him. If Shelton continues to improve and play at a high level, he has a good shot at being crowned the Australian Open champion.