Australian Open 2025: 5 favorites to win men's singles title ft. Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz

The 2025 Australian Open will kick off the Grand Slam series this year, running from January 12th to 26th. It’s the 113th edition of the event and also the 57th in the Open era, with Novak Djokovic hoping to secure a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam trophy at the event.

Carlos Alcaraz is also hoping to complete the career Grand Slam, having won trophies at Wimbledon, Roland Garros, and the US Open in the past. So let’s take a look at some of the biggest favorites who will contest for the trophy this year.

#5 Taylor Fritz

Team USA's Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz pose with the champions trophy after defeating Team Poland in the final of the 2025 United Cup - Source: Getty

Fritz had a breakthrough US Open campaign last year as he made it to the final. He did lose to Jannik Sinner but also proved that he can be competitive at the highest level. This event being on hard courts certainly boosts his chances because he enjoys playing on faster hard courts. He’s got a massive serve, and his forehand and backhand deliveries can wreak havoc on a court like the one at Melbourne Park.

He’s also had some solid results on these courts in the past, nearly beating Novak Djokovic a couple of years ago. With Fritz, it’s mostly about staying consistent as it has proved to be an issue at times.

Just leading up to this event, for example, Fritz lost a match to Auger-Aliassime where he won the opening set and had a break in hand in the second. He did, however, lead the US to the United Cup trophy recently alongside Coco Gauff, and in that lies his biggest dichotomy.

#4 Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev plays a forehand during a practice session ahead of the 2025 Australian Open - Source: Getty

Alexander Zverev had a pretty solid start to the 2025 season with some notable performances at the United Cup. He didn’t play close to his best, but he looked a bit better than expected considering it’s the early season. Zverev has firmly ascended to a new level and set new standards, which is why we’re considering him among the favorites.

He has a massive serve, which will be a major weapon in Melbourne. He’s good enough from the baseline, and with a year of playing aggressive tennis in the bag, he should be more comfortable doing that. That gives him the unique skillset needed to win this event. He was inches away from the final last year, and he can certainly go even further this year.

#3 Carlos Alcaraz

While most would consider Alcaraz the better player than Novak Djokovic right now, there are a couple of reasons why he ranks lower than the Serbian on this scale. Mostly, it’s a rather poor track record down under.

He hasn’t really shined in Australia and has rarely gotten close to playing his best tennis. His 29-8 record on hard courts indicates that he prefers slower courts, but he’s still the third most likely to win.

He has shown an ability to beat every player out there and is the only one who had some decent success against Jannik Sinner in the past year. So if somebody is going to prevent the Italian from winning this event again, it’s likely going to be Carlos Alcaraz. Not playing any preparatory events, though, might hurt him a bit.

#2 Novak Djokovic

No player has ever played as well at the Australian Open as Novak Djokovic has. The Serbian won the event an incredible ten times, and he is hoping to make it eleven this year. It would be iconic but rather unlikely considering just how underwhelming Djokovic has been last year. Apart from a decent display at the Paris Olympics, the 24 majors title-winner failed to add to his tally.

He’s far more likely to figure things out at the Australian Open than anywhere else, but even if he does, there remains a problem of how to beat either Alcaraz or Sinner. He has struggled against both of them lately, especially with Sinner, whom he hasn’t beaten since 2023. Still, he’s one of the best players in the world, who would be in one of his historically favorable hunting grounds in Melbourne, making him all the more potent as a title contender.

#1 Jannik Sinner

Jannik Sinner plays a backhand during a practice session ahead of the 2025 Australian Open - Source: Getty

By far, the best player in 2024 was Jannik Sinner. His rise to the top began with a bumpy but rather impressive run at the 2024 Australian Open, which ended with a trophy. Sinner notched a mind-boggling 94.83% win rate on hard courts in 2024 (55-3) making it the third-best hard court win percentage in the Open Era, after Roger Federer in 2005 and 2006. Such a dominant showing on hard courts astronomically increases the Italian's odds of defending the title.

He’s shown a machine-like precision in dissecting opponents regardless of playstyle. He loves to play attacking tennis, and this surface rewards that type of play. His serve has also improved massively, and that just makes him the perfect player to dominate in Melbourne.

He will be in familiar territory this year, and an amalgamation of these attributes is what makes him our number-one pick to win the first Grand Slam of the 2025 season—the Australian Open.