Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev in the final, 7–5, 6–2, 6–2 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2021 Australian Open. It was his record-extending ninth Australian Open title and 18th major title overall. With his fourth-round win, Djokovic joined Roger Federer as only the second man to achieve 300 match wins in majors.

Aslan Karatsev was the first male qualifier to reach a major semifinal since Vladimir Voltchkov in the 2000 Wimbledon Championships, and the first at the Australian Open since Bob Giltinan in December 1977. Ranked world No. 114, he was the lowest-ranked player to reach a major semifinal since Goran Ivanišević (ranked No. 125) at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, the lowest ranked to do so at the Australian Open since Patrick McEnroe (also ranked No. 114) in 1991, and the first man in the Open Era to reach the semifinals on his major main-draw debut.

Djokovic, Medvedev and Rafael Nadal were all in contention for the No. 1 ranking. Djokovic retained the No. 1 rank after Nadal lost his quarterfinal match and Djokovic reached the semifinals.

This was the first major in the Open Era to feature three Russian men in the quarterfinals, those being Medvedev, Karatsev, and Andrey Rublev.

This marked the first major main-draw appearance of future world No. 1 and seven-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz, who would win the title five years later; he lost to Mikael Ymer in the second round. At 17 years old, Alcaraz was the youngest man to win a main-draw match at the Australian Open since Bernard Tomic in 2009.

Seeds All seedings per ATP rankings.

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8

Seeded players The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on ATP rankings as of 1 February 2021. Rankings and points before are as of 8 February 2021.

Seed RankPlayerPoints beforePoints defendingPoints wonPoints afterStatus 1 1 Novak Djokovic 12,030 2,000 2,000 12,030 Champion, defeated Daniil Medvedev 2 2 Rafael Nadal 9,850 360 360 9,850 Quarterfinals lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 3 3 Dominic Thiem 9,125 1,200 180 9,125 Fourth round lost to Grigor Dimitrov 4 4 Daniil Medvedev 8,695 180 1,200 9,735 Final lost to Novak Djokovic 5 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas 5,940 90 720 6,595 Semifinals lost to Daniil Medvedev 6 7 Alexander Zverev 5,615 720 360 5,615 Quarterfinals lost to Novak Djokovic 7 8 Andrey Rublev 4,429 180 360 4,609 Quarterfinals lost to Daniil Medvedev 8 9 Diego Schwartzman 3,480 180 90 3,480 Third round lost to Aslan Karatsev [Q] 9 10 Matteo Berrettini 3,345 45 180 3,480 Fourth round withdrew due to abdominal strain 10 12 Gaël Monfils 2,860 180 10 2,860 First round lost to Emil Ruusuvuori 11 11 Denis Shapovalov 2,830 10 90 2,910 Third round lost to Félix Auger-Aliassime 12 13 Roberto Bautista Agut 2,710 90 10 2,710 First round lost to Radu Albot 13 15 David Goffin 2,600 90 10 2,600 First round lost to Alexei Popyrin [WC] 14 14 Milos Raonic 2,630 360 180 2,630 Fourth round lost to Novak Djokovic 15 16 Pablo Carreño Busta 2,585 90 90 2,585 Third round retired against Grigor Dimitrov 16 17 Fabio Fognini 2,535 180 180 2,535 Fourth round lost to Rafael Nadal 17 18 Stan Wawrinka 2,365 360 45 2,365 Second round lost to Márton Fucsovics 18 21 Grigor Dimitrov 2,260 45 360 2,575 Quarterfinals lost to Aslan Karatsev [Q] 19 20 Karen Khachanov 2,290 90 90 2,290 Third round lost to Matteo Berrettini 20 19 Félix Auger-Aliassime 2,346 10 180 2,516 Fourth round lost to Aslan Karatsev [Q] 21 23 Alex de Minaur 2,065 0 90 2,155 Third round lost to Fabio Fognini 22 25 Borna Ćorić 1,855 10 45 1,890 Second round lost to Mackenzie McDonald [PR] 23 27 Dušan Lajović 1,785 90 180 1,875 Fourth round lost to Alexander Zverev 24 28 Casper Ruud 1,739 10 180 1,909 Fourth round lost to Andrey Rublev 25 29 Benoît Paire 1,738 45 10 1,738 First round lost to Egor Gerasimov 26 30 Hubert Hurkacz 1,735 45 10 1,735 First round lost to Mikael Ymer 27 31 Taylor Fritz 1,695 90 90 1,695 Third round lost to Novak Djokovic 28 33 Filip Krajinović 1,673 45 90 1,718 Third round lost to Daniil Medvedev 29 34 Ugo Humbert 1,671 10 45 1,706 Second round lost to Nick Kyrgios 30 26 Dan Evans 1,794 45 10 1,794 First round lost to Cameron Norrie 31 35 Lorenzo Sonego 1,588 10 45 1,623 Second round lost to Feliciano López 32 36 Adrian Mannarino 1,561 10 90 1,641 Third round lost to Alexander Zverev

Other entry information

Wild cards

Protected ranking

Qualifiers

Lucky losers

Potential lucky losers Borna Gojo (did not play)

Withdrawals

† – not included on entry list ‡ – withdrew from entry list before qualifying began ∆ – withdrew from entry list during qualifying Ω – withdrew from entry list during a mandatory 14-day quarantine period § – withdrew from main draw

See also 2021 Australian Open – Day-by-day summaries

Explanatory notes

References

External links Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) – 2021 Australian Open Men's Singles draw 2021 Australian Open – Men's draws and results at the International Tennis Federation