Novak Djokovic started his latest run at a record 25th Grand Slam title with an efficient, no-drama first-round win on Monday night, rolling past Spain’s Pedro Martínez 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.
The 38-year-old Serb never looked rushed. He took the ball early, kept points short when he could, and moved cleanly across the baseline after questions about his fitness lingered through the opening week of the tournament. Djokovic had withdrawn from his final warm-up event in Adelaide, saying he wasn’t physically ready, and he has played sparingly since early November as he tries to manage the wear and tear of a long career.
Against Martínez, ranked outside the top 70, Djokovic broke early, protected his own serve, and steadily squeezed the match until it felt inevitable. The only flicker of concern came late, when he briefly stretched his right hamstring between games. He finished the night without any visible limitation.
The victory was Djokovic’s 100th match win at the Australian Open, a milestone that adds another layer to his already outsized record in Melbourne, where he is a 10-time champion. On-court afterward, he smiled as he absorbed the number.
“It’s always special to come back here,” Djokovic said, calling Rod Laver Arena his favorite court and noting that history remains a powerful motivator at this stage of his career.
Next up is Italian qualifier Francesco Maestrelli in the second round, where the degree of difficulty should rise, but the script remains the same: Djokovic is here to try to push past the sport’s newest two-man summit.
Over the last two seasons, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have become the sport’s defining rivalry, splitting the biggest trophies and reshaping expectations about who controls the majors. Sinner arrives in Melbourne as the two-time defending Australian Open champion. Djokovic, now ranked No. 4, has been stuck on 24 major titles since winning the U.S. Open in 2023, close enough to the record to taste it, far enough away to feel the pressure every time the draw tightens.
A 25th Slam would move him beyond Margaret Court’s all-time mark, a chase that Djokovic has never hidden from, even as the calendar and the next generation push back. For now, the opening step was straightforward — and, for the rest of the field, a reminder that Djokovic still knows exactly how to start a Grand Slam campaign in Melbourne.
