Martina Navratilova skeptical of Jannik Sinner's skyrocketing odds over Carlos Alcaraz & Novak Djokovic as Australian Open 2025 favorite

Martina Navratilova recently expressed her doubts about Jannik Sinner being favored over Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic at the 2025 Australian Open. Djokovic has kicked off his 2025 season at the Brisbane International, while Sinner and Alcaraz will play their first match of the season at the Melbourne Major.

In 2024, Sinner secured his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open by defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final. On the other hand, Alcaraz achieved his best result at the tournament, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to Alexander Zverev, and the Serb made it to the semifinals before being knocked out by Sinner.

During a recent appearance on the Tennis Channel, Martina Navratilova shared her thoughts on the favorites at the Australian Open this year. She mentioned Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, and Medvedev as some of her top picks for this year.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion expressed surprise at the defending champion Jannik Sinner being the favorite over Djokovic and Alcaraz.

“I think I will be putting money on him [Novak Djokovic] and also Taylor Fritz. I think he’s got a good draw with [Daniil] Medvedev in this quarter. I am surprised that Jannik [Sinner] is a collectively bigger favorite than either [Carlos] Alcaraz and Djokovic combined. That just doesn’t add up for me,” Navratilova said.

Martina Navratilova also revealed that she is backing Fritz for this year's Melbourne Major as well as Djokovic because of his record of winning the title 10 times.

“But he [Novak Djokovic] didn’t have a great year. But yeah I think Fritz would be a good bet and Djokovic for sure. I mean you have to give him the nod because of the history there,” she added.

On the tennis side of things, Novak Djokovic began his 2025 season at the Brisbane International, defeating Rinky Hijikata and Gael Monfils before falling to Reilly Opelka in the quarterfinals.

Djokovic also teamed up with Nick Kyrgios for the doubles event, winning their first-round match against Alexander Erler and Andreas Mies before being defeated by the top-seeded pair of Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus in the second round.

Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will enter the Melbourne Major without participating in any preparatory tournaments, with their last competition being at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.

A look into Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic & Carlos Alcaraz's Australian Open 2025 1R matches

Jannik Sinner at the 2025 Australian Open [Image Source: Getty Images]

Jannik Sinner is the top seed at the 2025 Australian Open and he will kick off his title defense against Nicolas Jarry in the first round. The victor of this match will then advance to face either Taro Daniel or wild card Tristan Schoolkate in the second round.

Sinner and Jarry have previously faced each other twice on the ATP Tour, each securing a win. Their most recent match-up occurred in the first round of the 2024 China Open, where the Italian emerged victorious before finishing as the runner-up in the tournament, falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic is the seventh seed at the Melbourne Major and will face off against wild card Nishesh Basavareddy in the opening round. This will mark the first meeting between the Serb and Basavareddy on the ATP Tour. The winner of this match will then face either qualifier Jaime Faria or Pavel Kotov in the second round.

On the other hand, Carlos Alcaraz, seeded third in the tournament, is scheduled to face Alexander Shevchenko in the first round. The two players have only met once on the ATP Tour, during the second round of the 2024 Madrid Open, where the Spaniard emerged victorious with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win

The winner of the match between Alcaraz and Shevchenko will progress to face either Yoshihito Nishioka or qualifier Aziz Dougaz in the second round.