Melbourne [Australia], January 19 (ANI): The Serbian tennis icon and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic started off his Australian Open campaign with a historic 100th win in the tournament, defeating Pedro Martinez in his campaign opener at Melbourne on Monday.

Beating Pedro 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to complete his century of wins at Melbourne Park, now Djokovic will be going on another side quest on his way to a 25th major title, surpassing Swiss legend Roger Federer's 102 wins in the tournament. The US Open is the only Grand Slam tournament where he has not reached a century of wins, with a record of 95 wins and 15 losses, according to the ATP's official website.

'What can I say? I like the sound of it...Centurion is pretty nice,' Djokovic said. 'It's nice to be a centurion in these numbers. History-making is a great motivation, particularly in the last five to 10 years of my career. Once I got myself in a position to create history, I was even more inspired to play the best tennis.

'I was very fortunate early on to encounter some people who taught me and guided me to play the long shot with my career: not to burn out too quickly, and try to have the longest career possible. I am blessed to still be playing at this level,' he added.

His next challenge would be 23-year-old Italian qualifier Francesco Maestrelli, who beat Terence Atmane 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-1 to earn his first main-draw victory at a major tournament. Djokovic looked extremely sharp and agile on the court, amid questions about the age factor and fitness.

Also, the world number 13 Casper Ruud also made it to the next round, outclassing Mattia Bellucci 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to achieve his 50th Grand Slam match win and set up a clash against Jaume Munar.

Meanwhile, 40-year-old Stan Wawrinka, a wild-card, got immense fan support as he achieved his first win at the Australian Open in five years on Monday, defeating Serbian Laslo Djere 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4). The veteran, a three-time Grand Slam champion including the 2014 Australian Open, is playing his final ATP Tour season.

After a horrendous 2025 season, Russia's Daniil Medvedev continued a fine start to the year 2026, registering a 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(2) win over Jesper de Jong to move into the second round of the Australian Open. He had started off the year with a Brisbane Open title win and has improved his overall record to six wins in six matches this season. The former world number one and US Open 2021 champion will be eyeing his maiden Australian Open title after three appearances in the title clash.

Home favourite Alex de Minaur, after the quarterfinal finish at the tournament last year, started his bid for the top prize in Aussie land well, as the world number six secured a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 triumph against Mackenzie McDonald.

'It feels great to get started here at the Australian Open,' said De Minaur in his post-match press conference. 'Happy with the performance. It has neverbeen easy first match coming in. It was a tricky opponent, but I navigated it and did what I needed to do. Yeah, overall happy with the performance and ready for the next challenge,' he added.

Also, other winners of the day included world number 20 and 2023 AO semifinalist Tommy Paul, world number five and 17-time ATP Tour-level titlist Andrey Rublev, and Reilly Opelka. The 19th-seeded Paul beat compatriot Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, while 13th seed Rublev registered a win over Matteo Arnaldi by 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. Opelka fired 23 aces in his 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory against Nicolai Budkov Kjaer. (ANI)