The Serbian great eased to a straight sets win over Francesco Maestrelli in his second round match on Thursday (22.02.26) and described how his pre-tournament ritual of visiting the tree has paid dividends so far.

Djokovic said post-match: "That's my oldest friend here in Melbourne. He's been here always to heal my wounds, to give me company when I didn't want anybody else's company.

"It's a beautiful connection. Nature is such a powerful ally, we sometimes forget about it in this fast-paced life.

"Melbourne is an incredible city. By far my favourite place is the Botanical Gardens. You guys have one of the nicest parks in the centre of any town I've seen.

"It's a Brazilian fig tree, I'm not going to tell more secrets about it, but we have had a friendship for over 20 years."

Djokovic made light work of Italian Maestrelli to continue his pursuit of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title and confessed that he didn't know much about his opponent because he only plays a limited number of tournaments these days.

The world number four said: "I didn't know much about him until yesterday. It happens more often than not these days for me.

"Nevertheless, respect is always there. I don't underestimate anyone. He's got a big serve, big game. He's lacking experience on the big stage, but he's got the game to go far and high in the rankings. I wish him that."

The Australian Open is seen as one of Djokovic's best opportunities to win a 25th major, although the Serb insisted before the tournament that it wasn't "now or never" in his quest to stand alone at the top of Grand Slam titles won in both men's and women's singles.

The 10-time winner in Melbourne said: "There has been a lot of talk about the 25th, but I try to focus myself on what I have achieved, not what I'm possibly achieving.

"I hope it comes to that [winning 25], but 24 is also not a bad number. I have to appreciate that and remind myself of the amazing career I had."