Australian Open 2023: Dates, schedule, how to watch, odds and prize money
The 2023 Australian Open is looming large and this year there are no restrictions on competitors for the first time since 2020. The world’s best are descending upon Melbourne Park, but what are the key things to know ahead of the tournament?
When does the 2023 Australian Open begin?
Qualifying for the tournament has already taken place, but the first round starts on Monday, January 16 at 00:00 UK time. The tournament will conclude with the men’s singles final on January 29th at 5:00 UK time.
How to watch 2023 Australian Open?
Bet365* will be streaming all of the Australian Open live for account holders. Those interested in streaming the Australian Open live can take advantage of this service by following the simple steps below. After following the link below, you’ll notice the landing page advertises NBA which is also shown on Bet365.
- Click on this link.
- Click ‘join now’ and enter details.
- Log in and fund your account.
- Navigate to the ‘In-Play’ link at the top of the homepage and select your desired event.
*Geo restrictions apply, 18+ only, must have a funded account or placed a bet in the last 24 hours, GambleAware. All odds and offers within this article are accurate at the time of writing (11/01/2023).
In terms of TV coverage in the UK, Discovery+ hold the rights to broadcast the Australian Open. This means that in the UK coverage will be available via the Discovery+ app, but also on Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 throughout the two weeks. Radio coverage will be on BBC Radio 5live and Sports Xtra.
US TV coverage will be found on ESPN, with the qualifiers already being broadcast on ESPN+.
What is the structure of the tournament?
The men’s singles and women’s singles are played as a straight knockout 128-player draw. The top 32 players in the world as per the ATP/WTA rankings are seeded for the draw. The remaining players in the top 100 are pre-qualified for the main draw as well. The remaining slots in the draw are filled by qualifiers and wildcards that are selected by the tournament organisers via different criteria.
There are also men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles tournaments. The men’s and women’s doubles draws contain 16 seeded pairs from the doubles rankings as part of a 64-team draw. A number of wildcards are selected by the tournament organisers and often these teams are made up of players from the host nation. In last year’s Australian Open Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis made history by winning the title as a wildcard pair.
There are also a multitude of wheelchair tennis tournaments for men and women, as well as junior boys’ and girls’ tournaments.
Who are the favourites for the titles?
Men’s Singles
Having been controversially barred from the tournament in 2022, Novak Djokovic returns to attempt to continue his dominance of this Grand Slam tournament. The Serbian has already won the Australian Open on a record-breaking nine occasions. He is very much on for La Decima as well, having won a tour event in Adelaide on Sunday. That meant that Djokovic has now won 34 straight matches in Australia, so the conditions Down Under certainly suit him.
Rafael Nadal will be in the draw as defending champion. The 36-year-old Spaniard is constantly having to fight off questions about potential retirement, but this time last year it was presumed that the great Mallorcan was not fit enough to be a contender and went all the way.
The other main men to watch out for in the 2023 draw are last year’s runner up Daniil Medvedev, Australian firebrand and Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios, world number 3 and two-time 2022 Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud, and American Indian Wells champ Taylor Fritz.
2023 Australian Open Winner Odds |
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| Team | Bet365 | |
| Novak Djokovic | 5/6 | |
| Daniil Medvedev | 9/2 | |
| Rafael Nadal | 10/1 | |
| Nick Kyrgios | 12/1 | |
| Jannik Sinner | 14/1 | |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | 14/1 | |
| Felix Auger Aliassime | 16/1 | |
| Alexander Zverev | 20/1 | |
| Holger Rune | 20/1 | |
| Casper Ruud | 20/1 | |
| Taylor Fritz | 25/1 | |
| Matteo Berrettini | 33/1 | |
| Andrey Rublev | 50/1 | |
| Sebastian Korda | 50/1 | |
Women’s Singles
The outstanding favourite for the tournament is world number 1 and current French Open and US Open champion Iga Swiatek. The Pole has been in decent form at the start of the season and is the key player in the women’s game right now.
However, there are a plethora of real threats to the Pole in the draw, most prominent of which is the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. The world number 5 has a devastating game on her day and hard courts are her best playground. She comes off a tournament victory in Adelaide but has questions to answer about her mentality to win the biggest titles.
Of course, last year’s champion Ash Barty decided to retire from the sport a couple of months after her triumph (and is now pregnant), so the field is very open. Other players to watch out for this year include young American Coco Gauff, last year’s finalist Danielle Collins, French star Caroline Garcia, and the 2022 Wimbledon finalists Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur.
2023 Women’s Australian Open Odds |
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| Team | Bet365 | |
| Iga Swiatek | 7/4 | |
| Aryna Sabalenka | 9/1 | |
| Caroline Garcia | 10/1 | |
| Ons Jabeur | 12/1 | |
| Jessica Pegula | 12/1 | |
| Coco Gauff | 12/1 | |
| Elena Rybakina | 20/1 | |
| Barbora Krejcikova | 22/1 | |
| Liudmila Samsonova | 25/1 | |
| Maria Sakkari | 25/1 | |
| Madison Keys | 25/1 | |
| Danielle Collins | 33/1 | |
| Qinwen Zheng | 33/1 | |
| Belinda Bencic | 33/1 | |
Doubles Teams & Wheelchair Athletes
Czech players Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova have been a dominant team over recent years and will start as strong favourites for another Grand Slam title. On the men’s side it is likely that Kyrgios and Kokkinakis will be back together to defend their surprise title, but British players Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, with partners Rajeev Ram and Wesley Koolhof, are in the two highest-ranked teams in the world and harbour genuine chances to go for glory in Melbourne.
Diede de Groot has won the last nine women’s wheelchair Grand Slam singles titles and so will be hot favourite to make it ten, whilst Shingo Kuneida has won four of the last five singles titles but will be wary of Scotland’s Alfie Hewett who defeated him in New York last time out. Hewett will be teaming up with Gordon Reid again to try and win their 4th consecutive wheelchair doubles Australian Open crown.
What is the prize money breakdown?
The prize money is equal for both men and women at the Australian Open. The fund has risen by 3.38% from last year and by over 150% in the last 10 years.
2023 Australian Open Singles Prize Money |
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| Round | Prize Money | |
| Winner | A$2,975,000 | |
| Runner-Up | A$1,625,000 | |
| Semi-final | A$925,000 | |
| Quarter-final | A$555,250 | |
| 4th round | A$338,250 | |
| 3rd round | A$227,925 | |
| 2nd round | A$158,850 | |
| 1st round | A$106,250 | |
| Q3 | A$55,150 | |
| Q2 | A$36,575 | |
| Q1 | A$26,000 | |
