A relaxed Alex de Minaur will take a leaf out of Ashleigh Barty’s book as he looks to book his spot in the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday.

The Australian No.1 produced one of his best performances of the year to dispatch former French Open semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato in straight sets in the first round.

Tuesday’s 6-0 6-4 7-6 (7-5) victory followed a series of discussions with a sports psychologist he uses in Spain in the wake of a disappointing French Open and two early defeats in grass tournaments at Queen’s Club and in Holland last month.

Women’s world No.1 Barty has partly credited her rise to the top on the work she has done with former Richmond Tigers performance coach Ben Crowe, who she speaks to regularly wherever she is in the world.

De Minaur is close friends with his fellow Newcombe Medal winner and keen to emulate her relaxed approach – which has been largely instigated by Crowe – after several conversations with his man in Alicante.

“One of the biggest changes I felt going into this week was being able to not focus on the past and just be in the moment,” de Minaur said.

“Often I forget how important it is, and might not put in as much time as needs to be put in, because you focus on your training, your fitness.

“But your mind is equally or even more important than all those other aspects in tennis.”

De Minaur beat Johnson twice last year without dropping a set on hard courts in Washington and Brisbane.

But he is expecting a much tougher test against the world No.71 who reached the Wimbledon third round in 2017 and the second week in 2016.

That run to the fourth round three years ago included a victory over former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov.

“Grass really suits his game,” he said.

“He’s got a very mean slice and obviously great serve and forehand. It’s going to be a very difficult match.

“But the way I have been practising, I’m very happy with myself.”

Last year the former junior Wimbledon finalist reached the third round in his maiden appearance in the main draw before going out to Rafael Nadal on Centre Court and it’s an experience that left a lasting effect on him.

“Coming here is always special,” he said.

“No matter what sort of lead-up you have, as soon as you step into Wimbledon, everything just goes away. You just admire the beauty of this tournament.”

Victory over Johnson would set up a potential clash with Japanese world No.7 Kei Nishikori.