Alex de Minaur is through to the fourth round of his home grand slam for the third consecutive year, triumphing over Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli in straight-sets.

The Australian world number 10 needed two hours and seven minutes to claim the 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory at John Cain Arena.

De Minaur was far from his best on Friday, but was a step ahead of Cobolli who was never able to take advantage of the few opportunities he was given by the Australian.

"He's a great competitor," de Minaur said.

"He shows what he's been able to do this whole tournament, coming to qualifying and getting to the third round, beating seeds and great players.

"A lot of respect to him and it was a great match."

The Australian is into the fourth round for the third consecutive time, but has not made a quarterfinal at his home slam.

The world number 10 said to make a deep run in this year's Australian Open he will need to trust his game, which has resulted in three wins over top 10 opponents already this year.

"We're getting to the tail end of the tournament and the matches are definitely going to be very tough," he said.

"I'm looking forward to it. I've played some great tennis, I've started the year amazingly and hopefully I can keep it going in front of you guys.

"It's all going to come down to the level I bring to the following match.

"I've got to back myself up, I've got to believe, I've got to play positive tennis the way I've done this whole year."

The opening set remained on serve through the first five games before three consecutive service games were broken, leaving de Minaur 5-3 up and serving for the set.