Maria Sharapova [Images] is not due to play her second round Australian Open match until Wednesday but for those who had tickets for Tuesday, there was always Novak Djokovic.

The men's third seed entertained the crowd with a solid victory over Benjamin Becker in the first round but really came into his own afterwards with an impersonation of his friend Sharapova.

A reluctant clown, the Serb finally relented to crowd pressure and performed his skit, hitching up his baggy shorts and aping the Russian looking in the mirror and brushing her hair behind her ears before serving.

Djokovic is well known for his mimicry, but it has not always been well received and the Serb explained his initial reluctance.

"I didn't [want to do an impersonation] because there was a lot of talk in the last couple months about me doing these impersonations," he told reporters.

"I wasn't really trying to make fun of anybody or offend anybody. I'm not trying to be different; just trying to enjoy. That's all.

"I didn't want to get more of these [negative] comments by doing again the impersonations. People made me do it, so...

"It's good that I just did Maria. I didn't want to do any of the other tennis players. She doesn't mind -- she'd okay with it."