Novak Djokovic has dismissed comparisons with beleaguered golf ace Tiger Woods after cruising into the third round at Wimbledon.

The form slump that the former champion and ex-World number one has suffered since arriving at this event as the dominant player in his sport a year ago had drawn the unflattering comparison from Woods’ American compatriot John McEnroe.

Djokovic was respectful in responding to the comments of his fellow former champion, but made it clear that he did not think they were justified.

“John is very well known for his kind of bold comments and not really caring too much about being politically correct but saying whatever is on his mind. That's all I can say. I really don't take anything personal. I always got along very well with John,” he said.

“I guess whether that's his opinion or criticism or something else, I'm not really sure, but in the end of the day, I respect everything he says.

“I really don't take it in a negative way anyhow. It's fine. He has his right to say the things he wants to say. I don't necessarily need to agree with that, but it's his right.”

Djokovic jokingly suggested that the observations might have been provoked by an ill-directed shot in practice.

“When I was warming up for my first match on the Centre Court, he was giving an intro, talking to the camera, and I served and the serve went straight at him as I was playing. I don't know. Maybe it's because of that,” said Djokovic, smiling broadly.

“Maybe he thought it wasn't a joke and I was joking, I was trying to hit him. I don't know. I take it very lightly. I don't think there was any kind of really wrong intention from his side towards me.”

The Serb’s state of mind has generated considerable speculation in recent months, but he claimed that he is beginning to find a way through the difficulties he has confronted and drawing satisfaction from doing so.

“I'm already enjoying the process very much, especially in the last couple of months,” he said, following his 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Adam Pavlasek.

“Even though maybe results haven't been up to the standard that I have had in the last seven, eight years, it's just, you know, in order to reach a new peak, you have to, I guess, fold a little bit in some way.

“And I try to have that kind of mindset and approach, understanding what I'm going through and understanding that I can't always be very successful in playing in the highest possible level.

“Eventually, as it happened, these things will happen that I start losing in a bigger tournaments, you know, in earlier rounds and drop my rankings.”

The man he is seeded to meet in the semi-finals, seven time champion Roger Federer, has meanwhile admitted to suffering from what was, given his vast experience, a strange bout of the jitters at such an early stage of the tournament.

“I think I just struggled early on. I was feeling nerves for some reason, I’m not sure why,” he revealed, following his 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Djokovic’s Serbian compatriot Dusan Lajovic.

“It was definitely more acute than I’ve normally felt it It was just like all of a sudden I was walking up to the locker room after my warmup and I was just, you know, feeling excited and nervous.

“Then when I walked to the court it was still ongoing and after the warmup it was still there and down 1-0, love-40, it was still there and then it was still there at 7-6 in the first set. It just took a while to shake it off, to be honest.

“But I played a great breaker. I think from then on I never looked back, got early breaks in sets two and three and was able to protect my serve in a good way.”

The man who has enjoyed more Centre Court experience than any other in his sport was at a loss to offer an explanation, suggesting it was just another example of the kind of tricks the mind can play on even the very best in sport.

“Sometimes you walk out, ‘Oh, finally, we're outside. How is everybody looking? How is the weather?’

“Sometimes you feel that way. And sometimes you're in this tunnel, ‘Oh, I hope I hold my first service game.’ You can't explain. It really depends on what your mind is telling you," he said.