An offhand comment by Novak Djokovic in his press conference after crushing Alex de Minaur shows that the Serb superstar is already playing mind games with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The 21-time grand slam champion appeared to forget that Tsitsipas had ever played in a grand slam final, even though the pair had met at the 2021 French Open decider in an epic five-set showdown.

When he was reminded of the thrilling encounter by a journalist, Djokovic suddenly came to his senses.

'That's right. Sorry, my bad. I wanted to compliment him because he's someone who looks ready to go for the title, and the way he has been playing, he's been coming closer and closer,' the grand slam champ said.

Tennis fans found it very hard to believe that Djokovic had completely forgotten his French Open battle with the Greek.

'Mental games, Djokovic is one of the best if not the best at that. Of course he remembers that final he was 2 sets down and came back from the dead. He's messing around with Stefanos,' wrote one Twitter user.

'This mind game is peak. He knows this will dig a hole in Stef's head if he plays him on Sunday. Love it,' commented another.

Djokovic, who's known as one of the most mentally strong athletes in the world, was also accused by Aussie tennis great Todd Woodbridge of playing mind games with Nick Kyrgios before the tournament started.

When asked who the biggest threats in the tournament were, the Serb master didn't mention the outspoken Australian, despite Kyrgios leading 2-1 in their head-to-head encounters and coming off his best season yet. 

Woodbridge explained that that he thinks Djokovic neglected to mention him on purpose and was trying to get into Kyrgios' head.

The No.4 seed has generally been well received at the Australian Open - but it was obvious he was keen to annihilate de Minaur in his last outing on Monday night.

Speaking to journalists at his post-match press conference, Djokovic felt he had a score to settle.

'I don't have any relationship with him,' he said.

'I respect him as a rival, a colleague, as I respect everyone. I have no problem contacting him, congratulating him, etc. But I don't have any other relationship.

'I don't have any communication with him. He (de Minaur) showed in 2022 what he thinks about me.'

De Minaur said 12 months ago he was tired of the Djokovic vaccination circus - where the tennis icon was sensationally deported from Australia after refusing to reveal if he was double jabbed.

Djokovic will face Andey Rublev next at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.