Naomi Osaka is ranked third behind world No. 1 Ash Barty and second-ranked Simona Halep.

Osaka is second to none among Australian Open favorites.

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US Open champion Osaka is listed as the favorite at +550 to capture her second Australian Open title in the last three years, according to Covers.com.

Bookmakers are bullish on Serena Williams winning her 24th Grand Slam crown in Melbourne to match Margaret Court's all-time record. The 39-year-old Serena is the oddsmakers second favorite at +600 to win her first Grand Slam title since she defeated sister Venus Williams in the 2017 AO Final.

Red-hot Aryna Sabalenka rides a 15-match winning streak into Melbourne. The seventh-ranked Belarusian and Wimbledon winner Halep tie as the bookmakers' third favorites to rule Melbourne at +900.

World No. 1 Barty, who bowed to Sofia Kenin in the 2020 AO semifinals, is listed at +1,000, which puts her slightly ahead of defending-champion Kenin and Roland Garros title holder Iga Swiatek, who are both +1,200.



Former French Open champion Barty, who is scheduled to join Osaka, Williams and Halep playing A Day at the Drive, a charity exhibition event in Adelaide on January 29th, has not played a Tour-level match since losing to Petra Kvitova in the Doha semifinals last February.

US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who spent 2020 rehabbing a knee injury, is listed at +1,600 to win the AO title in just her second Melbourne appearance. Andreescu is listed at equal odds with 2020 AO runner-up Garbine Muguruza, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova. 


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