Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime Faces Aussie Open Favorite, Should You Bet on Him?

Felix Auger-Aliassime is the last Canadian left in the Australian Open but has an arduous task ahead if he’s to make his first semifinal in the tournament.

Auger-Aliassime will take on pre-tournament favorite and reigning U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev at 3:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

It was Medvedev who ended Auger-Aliassime’s deepest grand slam run last year during the U.S. Open when Medvedev won in straight sets of their semifinal matchup (6-4, 7-5, 6-2).

Medvedev holds a 3-0 record all-time in this matchup and is currently a -700 favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook, while Auger-Aliassime is +500 on the moneyline.

FAA Battling Through Struggles

Auger-Aliassime and Medvedev have taken different paths to reach the semifinals, with Auger-Aliiassime having to overcome serving woes throughout the tournament.

In the first round, Auger-Aliassime dropped two straight sets to Emil Ruusuvori, including a bagel loss, as he struggled with his first serve percentage (55%) and committed seven double faults. But Auger-Aliassime rallied to win the next two sets to advance.

He then topped Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in four sets, with each set going to a tiebreaker. An easy three-set victory over Daniel Evans (6-4,6-1,6-1) was Auger-Alisiamme’s best showing before a four-set win over Marin Cilic in the fourth round to set up the showdown with Medvedev.

So, should you put your tennis betting money on the local guy? Let’s look at his opponent.

Medvedev Dominant in Grand Slam Events

Medvedev entered the Australian Open as the favorite at +135, with Novak Djokovic not participating in the tournament. He’s remained relatively unchallenged throughout, losing just two sets so far.

Both sets he dropped came when he already led the match 2-0 and he won going away in the fourth to bounce back against Nick Kyrgios in the second round (7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2) and Maxine Cressy in the fourth round (6-2, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5).

Medvedev has been dominant on hard courts in the grand slams. During the 2021 season, he went 13-1 at the Australian Open and U.S. Open, only losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open final. Medvedev is now the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s event at -110. By comparison, Auger-Aliassime has the longest odds at +3000.

The winner will face whoever comes out of the Janik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas matchup.

Rafael Nadal, who secured his semifinal spot with a five-set win over Canadian Denis Shapovalov, has the second-best odds to win the Australian Open at +270. He will face Matteo Berrettini, who is +500 to win the event. Sinner (+1100) and Tsitsipas (+1400) are next on the odds board.