2023 Australian Open tennis odds: Novak Djokovic, Iga Swaitek taking massive betting action to win first Grand Slam event of year

The 2023 tennis season will be rather unique in that it will not feature the likes of all-time greats Roger Federer and Serena Williams. Both legends have now retired. Additionally, former world No. 1 and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka announced this week that she's pregnant and will be taking time away. Nonetheless, the major championship campaign kicks off Sunday night Eastern time with the hard-court Australian Open in Melbourne, and bettors at BetMGM are crushing Novak Djokovic to win the men's singles title and Iga Swiatek to do so on the women's side.

There's no question the story line entering the Aussie Open is Djokovic attempting to catch defending champion Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slam titles all-time. Nadal currently leads 22-21. The Spaniard has won most of his Slams on the clay courts of Paris, but did win this tournament last year for the second time, beating Daniil Medvedev in five sets.

Nadal is the top men's seed at the Australian Open in the absence of injured world No. 1 and fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who withdrew earlier this week with a hamstring injury. Alcaraz won the US Open last September and moved atop the ATP rankings. His rise from No. 32 at the end of 2021 also marked the largest single-season jump to No. 1. Nadal is No. 2 in the ATP rankings and +1100 to win this week after opening +700 at BetMGM. Nadal has taken the third-most tickets at 11% but not among the top 3 in handle.

Djokovic has won this event a record nine times but couldn't play last year due to being unvaccinated. In fact, the only major Djokovic was allowed to play was Wimbledon, which he won. He comes off a warm-up tournament victory over the weekend in Adelaide, Australia. Djokovic is seeded fourth this week but on the opposite side of the draw from Nadal, meaning they could only meet in the final. Djokovic starts play against Roberto Carballes Baena on Monday. The Serb opened at +120 to win the event a 10th time but is now -120 thanks to taking a whopping 68% of the handle and 27% of the tickets.

The last 13 times Nadal and Djokovic have both been in the draw at a Grand Slam, one of them has gone on to win the title. 

Swiatek, the top-ranked and top-seeded player on the women's side, opened at +1100 but is way down to +175 as she leads by far in handle (35%) and tickets (31%). The Pole won both the French Open and US Open last year. Her best result at the Australian Open was a 2022 semifinal loss to Danielle Collins. Swiatek takes on German Jule Niemeier, who is ranked No. 68, in the opening round.

While no American man has a realistic chance to win the Australian Open, third-seeded Jessica Pegula is +1000 and No. 7 Coco Gauff is +1400 in the women's tournament. Gauff is looking at a potential quarterfinal meeting with Swiatek in a rematch of last year's French Open final. Venus Williams is not playing in this year's tournament. 

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