MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic had the big stage and a list of milestones that he needed to celebrate with his 100th win at the Australian Open.
He delivered the kind of performance that showed his rivals and his fans he's here with a single objective: a 25th Grand Slam title.
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Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his first round match against Pedro Martinez of Spain at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand return to Pedro Martinez of Spain during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a forehand return to Pedro Martinez of Spain during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a forehand return to Pedro Martinez of Spain during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
The 38-year-old Djokovic equaled two all-time tennis records by starting his 21st Australian Open and his 81st Grand Slam event, and he added another milestone Monday night with his 100th win at Melbourne Park.
He already owns so many tennis records, but he really liked the sound of this one.
“I mean, what can I say? Centurion is pretty nice,” Djokovoic said after his 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 first-round win over Pedro Martinez of Spain. “Nice feeling.”
His record now stands at 100-10 at the Australian Open, where he's won 10 titles. And that makes him the first man to win 100 or more matches on three surfaces at the Grand Slams, with his 102 on grass at Wimbledon and 101 on clay at Roland Garros.
What the winner of 24 major championships really wants more than anything is to win six more matches across the next two weeks, enough to become the most decorated tennis player of all time. He already owns the records for most men's Grand Slam singles titles and most in the Open era.
On Monday, he equaled Federer's 21 Australian Open appearances, and the overall Grand Slam record that Federer shared with Feliciano Lopez.
“History making is a great motivation,” he said.
Djokovic showed signs of vintage form, with a running crosscourt forehand winner near the end of the first set that he saluted with a ripping-the-cord celebration.
In the third set, he said he was channeling Gael Monfils when he leaped into another forehand and smacked a winner crosscourt.
His service stats laid down a solid marker: 77% first serves in, 93% first serve points won, 85% second serve points won and 14 aces. He didn't face a break point.
“Performance-wise, the feeling on the court, it was great. I couldn’t ask for more. Obviously a great serving performance,” he said, adding that the commanding victory was “sending the right signal, not just to yourself but to all your opponents.”
Speaking of opponents, he has noticed that the reworked Carlos Alcaraz service motion looks remarkably like his own. He joked that he'd been in touch with the 22-year-old Spaniard, who is trying to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the Australian title.
“As soon as I saw it, I sent him a message (and) I said, 'You know, we have to speak about the copyrights!” he joked in his post-match news conference.
“Then when I saw him here, I told him we have to talk about percentage of his winnings,” he added, smiling. “Every ace I expect a tribute to me!”
Djokovic didn't play any warmup tournaments, saving himself for the big occasion in a bid to win a major title that has eluded him since 2023.
“I’m using every hour that I can to get my body recovered and in shape for the next challenge,” he said.
He reached the semifinals at all four majors in 2025 but couldn't break the stranglehold that Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner — the rivalry known as Sincaraz — have had on the biggest trophies in the sport for the last two years.
Djokovic acknowledged ahead of the tournament that Alcaraz and two-time defending Australian Open champion Sinner are playing on a different level right now, but he said if he can put everything together at the right time he's still capable of beating anyone.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his first round match against Pedro Martinez of Spain at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand return to Pedro Martinez of Spain during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a forehand return to Pedro Martinez of Spain during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a forehand return to Pedro Martinez of Spain during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
U.S. President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” in a text message released on Monday.
Trump's message to Jonas Gahr Støre appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.
Those countries issued a forceful rebuke. But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to de-escalate tensions on Monday. While the White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force, Starmer said he did not believe military action would occur.
"I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said.
Still, the American leader's message to Gahr Støre could further fracture a U.S.-European relationship already strained by differences over how to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, previous rounds of tariffs, military spending and migration policy.
In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change the their stance.
“We will not be pressured,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”
“I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?”
Trump's message to Gahr Støre, released by the Norwegian government, read in part: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
It concluded: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.
“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to president Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”
He told TV2 Norway that he hadn't responded to the message, but "I still believe it’s wise to talk," and he hopes to talk with Trump in Davos this week.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the president’s approach in Greenland during a brief Q&A with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosting the World Economic Forum meeting this week.
“I think it’s a complete canard that the president would be doing this because of the Nobel,” Bessent said, immediately after saying he did not “know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”
Bessent insisted Trump “is looking at Greenland as a strategic asset for the United States,” adding that “we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else.”
Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.
In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated they would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.
European governments said that the troops traveled to the island to assess Arctic security, part of a response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.
Starmer on Monday called Trump’s threat of tariffs “completely wrong” and said that a trade war is in no one’s interest.
He added that “being pragmatic does not mean being passive and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”
Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President Antonio Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He announced a summit for Thursday evening.
Starmer indicated that Britain, which is not part of the EU, is not planning to consider retaliatory tariffs.
“My focus is on making sure we don’t get to that stage,” he said.
Denmark’s defense minister and Greenland’s foreign minister are expected to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday, a meeting that was planned before the latest escalation.
Associated Press writers Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida; Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland; and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
The Danish navy's inspection ship HDMS Vaedderen sails off Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Danish soldiers disembark at the harbor in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Danish soldiers disembark at the harbor in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
