Djokovic secures 400th Grand Slam match win to extend record, ties Federer's Australian Open mark

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An even 400 in Grand Slams and 102 in Australia. Novak Djokovic just keeps setting tennis records.

The 24-time major winner became the first player to reach 400 wins in Grand Slam singles when he beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Saturday night in the third round of the Australian Open.

It improved his win-loss record to 102-10 at the Australian Open, too, equaling Roger Federer's career haul for the most-ever match wins at the season's first major.

Djokovic has won the Australian Open 10 times, more than anyone else. At 38, he's in Australia aiming for a 25th career major that would make him the most decorated tennis player of all time.

Djokovic apologized for a moment of frustration in the seventh game of the second set, when he swiped the ball away angrily and it flew just past a ball girl crouching at the net post.

“I apologized for that. That was not necessary and in the heat of the moment,” he said. "I was lucky there and I’m sorry for causing any distress to the ball kid or anybody.”

Djokovic was disqualified from the U.S. Open in 2020 for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball by angrily smacking a ball behind him after dropping a game in his fourth-round match.

Aside from that brief loss of temper, Djokovic was mostly in control against van de Zandschulp and was untroubled except for a few moments in the third set — when he tripped and tumbled to the court in the third game, and later when he faced two set points in the 12th.

A medical timeout at the changeover after the third, when the trainer taped the ball of his right foot, and a forehand winner down the line diffused the first two of those issues.

As Djokovic faced his second set point, chair umpire John Blom had to urge the crowd — repeatedly — not to make noise between the first and second serves.

An animated Djokovic saved the next one, too, pretending to head the ball like a soccer player as the Dutchman's shot sailed over the baseline.

The crowd chanted “Nole, Nole, Nole” in support before he produced a winning serve to force a tiebreaker, which he won.

Djokovic was happy to be playing a night match on a day when the tournament's extreme heat policy had to be invoked and two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner struggled before advancing in the afternoon conditions.

“I managed to have a ‘good’ fall if you can say so, I could protect myself,” Djokovic said of the tumble. “Things could have been pretty ugly.”

He said his body is feeling good for this stage of the tournament, but he's not getting too far ahead of himself after semifinals at all four majors last year.

“I must say, it’s been a great start of the tournament,” he said. “Last year I learned a lesson. I got too excited too early in some of the Grand Slams ... getting injured three out of four.”

Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz split the four majors between them and, while Djokovic concedes “they're playing on a different level right now,” he added: “I’m still trying to give these young guys a push for their money.”

With his first-round win over Pedro Martinez, Djokovic equaled two all-time tennis records by starting his 21st Australian Open and his 81st Grand Slam event, and he added another milestone with his 100th win at Melbourne Park.

That made 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.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a forehand return to Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand return to Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia falls during his third round match against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts during his third round match against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts after a fall during his third round match against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran attacked commercial ships on Wednesday across the Persian Gulf and targeted Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region as global energy concerns mounted and American and Israeli airstrikes pounded the Islamic Republic.

Two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and the world’s busiest for international travel. Four people were wounded but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said.

Iran's joint military command announced it would start targeting banks and financial institutions in the Middle East. That would put at risk particularly Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.

Earlier, a projectile hit a Thai cargo ship off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze. Authorities are searching for three missing crew members from the Mayuree Naree after 20 were rescued by the Omani navy, according to Thailand’s Marine Department.

Kuwait said its defenses downed eight Iranian drones and Saudi Arabia said it intercepted five heading toward the kingdom’s Shaybah oil field.

Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow strait through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.

The U.N. Security Council was to vote later Wednesday on a resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council demanding Iran stop attacking its Arab neighbors.

Witnesses reported continuous airstrikes hitting Tehran after Israel said it had renewed its attacks. Explosions were also heard in Beirut and in southern Lebanon after Israel said it was hitting targets connected to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

The attacks set a building ablaze in central Beirut's densely populated Aicha Bakkar area, engulfing the top two floors. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Other Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon killed 14 people, and a Red Cross worker also died Wednesday of wounds sustained Monday, when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an earlier attack.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said Wednesday that 570 people have been killed in the country since that latest fighting began. Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel after the United States and Israel began the wider war with their surprise bombardment of Iran.

Israel warned of three Iranian attacks early Wednesday, with sirens heard in Tel Aviv and elsewhere but no immediate reports of casualties.

Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, a major U.S.- and Saudi-operated facility, and intercepted two drones over the eastern city of Hafar al-Batin.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British military, reported an attack on a container ship off the United Arab Emirates, saying the “extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation by the crew.” Another ship was hit by a projectile in the Persian Gulf, it said. The crew was reported safe.

The ship attacks follow intense American airstrikes targeting Iranian navy assets and the port city of Bandar Abbas on Tuesday.

Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE were working to shoot down Iranian missiles and drones.

The Iranian threat against financial institutions did not identify any specifically. It came after a Tehran location of Bank Sepah, the state-owned financial institution sanctioned by the U.S. over funding its armed forces, came under attack early Wednesday, killing staffers there, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

At the United Nations, the Security Council was to vote Wednesday afternoon on the Gulf Cooperation Council resolution, according to three diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.

The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, condemns Iran’s attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan. The measure calls for an immediate end to all strikes and threats against neighboring states, including through proxies.

It would be the first Security Council resolution considered since the start of the war on Feb. 28.

Oil prices remained well below Monday's peaks but the price of Brent crude, the international standard, was still up some 20% Wednesday from when the war began, and consumers around the world are already feeling the pain at the pump.

The spike in oil prices has been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that a prolonged war could hinder exports from a critical region.

The U.S. military said Tuesday it had destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, though U.S. President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports yet of Iran mining the passage.

If the strait is mined, it could take at least weeks to clean it up once the conflict is over.

Some tankers, believed linked to Iran, are continuing to get through the strait making so-called “dark” transits -- meaning they aren’t turning on their Automatic Identification System trackers, which show where vessels are. Vessels carrying sanctioned Iranian crude often turn off their AIS trackers.

The security firm Neptune P2P Group said Wednesday there had been seven ships pass through the strait since March 8. Of them, five were linked to Iranian-associated shipping, it said. In ordinary times the strait typically sees 100 ships or more transit daily from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Oman.

Meanwhile, the commodity-tracking firm Kpler said Iran has restarted crude exports through its Jask oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman. A tanker loaded roughly 2 million barrels at Jask on March 7, it said.

Concerns are growing over the health of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei after comments about him “being injured.”

The 56-year-old Khamenei — the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — has not been seen since becoming supreme leader on Monday. His father and wife both were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the conflict.

In addition to the 570 killed in Lebanon, Iran has said that more than 1,300 people have been killed there and Israel has reported 12 people dead.

The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.

Many foreign nationals have been getting out of the Persian Gulf region since the war began, including over 45,000 U.K. citizens, the British Foreign Office said. Some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.

Magdy reported from Cairo, and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AIJoud in Beirut, Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.

A man holds a picture of late Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh beside his coffin as mourners attend the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A mourner holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, as supreme leader, during the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from a building following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburb, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Mourners attend the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and some civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE - A plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohsen Ganji, File)

Rescue workers gather at the site where Israeli airstrikes hit apartments in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strike, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A man passes in front of a destroyed building that housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, handing the country’s flag to his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, as the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stands at left, in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)