Novak Djokovic wants to take down friend Fabio Fognini in the fourth round of the Australian Open

FINDING chinks in Novak Djokovic's armour at Melbourne Park has been mission impossible for the past three years.

FINDING chinks in Novak Djokovic's armour at Melbourne Park has been mission impossible for the past three years.

Many have tried different tactics and failed spectacularly but Italian Fabio Fognini is bringing something different to their fourth round match-up - friendship.

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The clay court specialist and world No. 2 are close friends off the court but Djokovic has warned he won't let his fondness for Fognini get in his way although he's wary of his friend who surged up from 45th to 15th in the world rankings over the past year.

"I'm going to try to win against him regardless if he's a friend or not," the reigning champion said. "Of course, I respect him.

"I have a great relationship with him, real friend relationship for more than 10 years.

News_Image_File: Djokovic celebrates advancing to the fourth round.

"Once we get on the court, of course we're both professionals, we want to win. He's 15 in the world, he's been playing some really good tennis.

"He's a clay court specialist, so that's where he made his best results but lately he's been performing really well on hard court.

"(In third round) he beat Sam Querrey, who is a hard court specialist, big serve, in form, and Fabio won. I don't take anything easy. I try to do as best as possible."

Djokovic hasn't let the friendship get in the way in their previous six meetings which he has won including three match-ups last year.

The only Grand Slam meeting between the pair - in the quarter-finals at the 2011 French Open - turned out to be a fizzer with Fognini forced to withdraw because of a leg injury.

That was the Italian's best Grand Slam result and he's previously struggled at the Australian Open with this just the second time from seven attempts that he's progressed past the opening round.

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Djokovic has yet to drop a set in the opening three rounds and his dominance in Melbourne has been compared to the hold Roger Federer had at Wimbledon where he won five consecutive titles.

"If I can compare myself to Roger's success in Wimbledon, that's definitely a compliment," he said after easing past Denis Istomin 6-3 6-3 7-5 on Friday night to extend his unbeaten streak here to 24.

"There's still a lot more years to come for me, a lot more to prove.

"This is definitely one of my most favourite tournaments in the world, the best Grand Slam by far. I love playing on Rod Laver Arena and results are showing that."

NOVAK DJOKOVIC

Serbia

Age: 26

Ranking: 2

Ht: 188cm Wt: 80kg

Plays: Right-handed

Turned professional: 2003

Career titles: 41

Career prize money: $58,134,445

FABIO FOGNINI

Italy

Age: 26

Ht: 178cm Wt: 74kg

Plays: Right-handed

Turned professional: 2004

Career titles: 2

Career prize money: $4,065,111

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