Djokovic wins opening match against Martinez at Australian Open

Djokovic wins opening match against Martinez at Australian OpenNovak Djokovic begins his hunt for ‍a record ‍25th Grand Slam title with a straight-sets victory against Pedro Martinez.Published On 19 Jan 2026Novak Djokovic has embarked on his latest quest to win a record 25th Grand Slam by easing to an ominous straight-sets victory at the Australian Open in Melbourne.The Serb dismissed Spain’s Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on Monday in two hours and is to meet Italian qualifier Francesco Maestrelli in the second round.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Senegal, Morocco, play out an embarrassing AFCON 2025 final in Rabatlist 2 of 4What happened in controversial AFCON final?list 3 of 4Senegal beat hosts Morocco to win AFCON 2025 after farcical walk-offlist 4 of 4Photos: Senegal stun hosts Morocco to win AFCON titleend of listIt was his 100th Australian Open victory.“Great to be back once again, definitely my favourite court,” the smiling 38-year-old said at Rod Laver Arena.“Centurion is pretty nice. I always give my best on the court. History-making is a great motivation.”He added: “I am blessed to be still playing at this level.”The former world number one raced into a 3-0 first-set lead as Serbian fans serenaded their hero.Djokovic, now ranked fourth in the world, pulled out of a warm-up event this month, saying he was not physically ready.His last competitive match was in early November as he tries to limit the wear and tear on his creaking body.But he showed no signs of discomfort or rustiness in moving freely around the Melbourne Park hard court to seal the first set with minimum fuss.He broke the 71st-ranked Martinez’s serve early in the second set and was hardly troubled on his own serve to take a 2-0 lead.The third set went much the same way, the only moment of concern for Djokovic fans coming when he stretched out his right hamstring between games.Djokovic is seeking a record 25th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open [Tingshu Wang/Reuters]Djokovic will need to gatecrash the duopoly of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner if he is to break a tie with Margaret Court and win an all-out record 25th major.