Serbian tennis player and the most successful competitor in the tournament, Novak Djokovic (4th seed), defeated Spanish player Pedro Martín on Monday in the first round of the 2026 Australian Open. In a match that lasted about two hours, the ten-time champion of this Grand Slam defeated the world number 71 in the ATP rankings in three consecutive sets, with a score of 6-3, 6-2, and 6-2. In the next round of this tournament, covered by the Argentine News Agency, Djokovic will face Italian Francesco Maestrelli, who, despite struggling, defeated Frenchman Terence Atmane on Monday in six sets, with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-4(7), 6-1, and 6-1. This victory over the Spanish player from Valencia marked Djokovic's 100th win in Grand Slam tournaments, making history in tennis as no one had achieved this before.
Other seeded players who made their debut on this day included Norwegian Casper Ruud (12th seed), who defeated Italian ATP number 76 Mattia Bellucci in three sets with a score of 6-1, 6-2, and 6-4. Additionally, Frenchman Alexander Müller defeated Australian Alexei Popyrin with a score of 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5), and 7-6(4), Monegasque Valentin Vacherot won against American Martin Damm Jr. with a score of 6-4, 6-4, and 6-4, Frenchman Arthur Gea defeated Czech Jiri Lehecka with a score of 7-5, 7-6(1), and 7-5, while Australian Rinky Hijikata defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino with a score of 6-3, 6-3, and 6-1.
In other matches, Canadian Denis Shapovalov defeated Chinese player Bu Yunchaokete with a score of 6-3, 7-6(3), and 6-1, Spanish player Jaume Munar defeated Czech Dalibor Svrcina with a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-4(7), 7-5, and 6-3, Argentine Thiago Tirante defeated Australian Aleksandar Vukic with a score of 7-5, 6-2, and 6-2, Croatian Marin Cilic defeated German Daniel Altmaier with a score of 6-0, 6-0, and 7-6(3), Swiss Stan Wawrinka defeated Serbian Laslo Djere with a score of 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, and 7-6(4), Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp pulled off the upset and defeated American Brandon Nakashima with a score of 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(1), and 7-6(3), Polish Kamil Majchrzak defeated British Jacob Fearnley with a score of 7-6(2), 7-5, 3-6, and 7-6(3), and Spanish player Davidovich Fokina defeated Austrian Filip Misolic with a score of 6-2, 6-3, and 6-3.
