A key staple of international tennis betting, the Australian Open is one of the most popular and best-attended tournaments in the world.
2026 will see the 114th renewal of the Australian Open, which is the second-oldest Grand Slam and was inaugurated back in 1905. However, female players weren’t invited to compete until 1922, when the tournament was still known globally as the Australasian Championships.
Fast forward to next year, and female stars like Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek will light up Melbourne once again. They’ll also be among the favorites to win the AO title, but what are the key betting trends that can help to support your picks?
A Brief History of the Australian Open Women’s Singles
As we’ve touched on, the Australian Open Women’s Singles were inaugurated in 1922, some 17 years after male players were invited to play. In the same tournament, Women’s and Mixed Doubles were added to the Australian Open schedule, which initially saw all matches played on grass.
This favored shorter points and serve volley specialists, alongside all-court stars like German Steffi Graf. The AO Women’s Singles were contested on grass until 1987, when the tournament was switched to the hard courts at Flinders Park.
Since this transition in 1988, the competition has favoured heavy ball strikers and baseline specialists, including Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and (more recently) Aryna Sabalenka.
In the Open Era, Serena Williams is the most successful player at the Australian Open with seven titles. Margaret Smith, Evonne Goolagong and Steffi Graff have each won four Open Era titles. Among current players, Sabalenka is the most successful with two titles, and this is likely to be reflected in the Australian Open Women’s betting odds for 2026.
Who are the Most Likely Australian Open Winners in 2026?
The interwetten team will publish its Australian Open Women's odds closer to the beginning of the tournament on Monday, January 12th, 2026. Before then, we’re going to take a much closer look at the most likely winners and what sets them apart from their rivals:
Aryna Sabalenka
The Women's Australian Open odds are likely to make the powerful Aryna Sabalenka the favorite in Melbourne next year. An incredibly heavy hitter who dominates most of her opponents from the baseline, Sabalenka excels on hard courts and has won 271 of her 377 matches on the surface during her career (71.9%). Her record in Melbourne is even more popular, as she has won 28 out of 34 encounters (82.3%) and lifted the title in 2023 and 2024.
Iga Swiatek
Six-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek starred at Wimbledon 2025, winning her maiden title at SW19 and recording the first 6-0, 6-0 victory in a final at the venue since 2011. This will give her confidence that she can prevail in Australia, where has yet to progress beyond the last four. However, while the Pole has triumphed in 173 of her 225 career matches on hard courts (76.9%), she has a significantly better win-rate on both grass (77.3%) and clay (86.6%). So, she’ll have to find a slightly higher level to win the AO title in 2026.
Coco Gauff
Now number two in the WTA rankings, American Coco Gauff has enjoyed a stellar 2025 so far. She won her maiden French Open and second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in May and has now won 77 of her 106 career matches on clay (72.6%). Hard courts are Gauff’s second favorite surface, with this yielding 149 wins out of 217 matches (68.7%). Her record of 10 wins in 14 AO matches equates to a tournament win-rate of 71.42%, while she managed to reach the semi-finals in Melbourne as recently as 2023.
Women's Australian Open Tennis Odds and Betting Trends
In addition to player form and history, there are alternative Australian Open betting trends that can influence specific market odds. This is the same across all sports betting events and markets. Here are three of the most intriguing trends ahead of the 2026 AO iteration:
- Favor Correct Score Set Betting: Not only can correct score betting unlock slightly enhanced odds in the Australian Ladies Singles, but the three-set format unlocks fewer potential outcomes to consider (2-0 and 2-1). Interestingly, some 69.01% of AO matches contested during the previous 10 years ended 2-0, with the remaining 30.99% producing a 2-1 scoreline. This suggests that there are more straightforward and clear-cut encounters on the female side.
- Upsets are More Likely in Round One at Melbourne: Overall, around 25% of all AO first round matches have produced an underdog winner during the last 10 years. Through 2025, however, women’s first round matches have proved more likely to produce a surprise winner, with this occurring in 175 out of 630 matches (27.8%). A similar rate of success for underdogs can be observed in rounds two and three, so this is something to consider when placing early moneyline wagers.
- Female Underdogs Consistently Outperform Men: From round four onwards in the Australian Open, female underdogs are statistically far more likely to win on average than their male counterparts. For example, 31.65% of round four betting underdogs have won during the last 10 years of the Ladies Singles, compared to 25.33% of men. In the semi-finals, just 5.56% of male underdogs have won since 2016, with this percentage rising to 30% in the Women’s Singles.
Other Sports Betting Markets at interwetten
While you wait for our Australian Open Women betting odds to land, there are a host of alternative markets for you to explore. You can wager on the upcoming US Open Ladies Singles, for example, which will take place at Flushing Meadows in New York and commence on August 31st, 2025. You can also engage in French Open and Wimbledon Ladies betting here at interwetten.
There are more immediate interwetten live betting markets available, which unlock dynamic and competitive odds. You can also engage in last minute betting, which creates an opportunity to place micro wagers.