Djokovic Knocked Out of Wimbledon in Second Round

Federer, Ivanovic, S. Williams Advance

WIMBLEDON, England, June 25--The much ballyhooed three-way battle for supremacy in men's tennis was abruptly trimmed to two at Wimbledon on Wednesday, as Serbia's Novak Djokovic suffered a stunning second-round defeat at the hands of Russia's Marat Safin.

Safin, a former world No. 1 who has made no secret of his disdain for grass-court tennis, toppled the defending Australian Open champion in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, before a capacity crowd on Centre Court.

With the upset, Safin helped clear the path for five-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer to return for a sixth consecutive final in the world's most prestigious tennis tournament. Djokovic, the world's third-ranked player, had been placed in Federer's half of the draw and would have met the Swiss champion in the semifinals, had he played up to form.

But Djokovic flashed only a shadow of his true ability against Safin, double-faulting 10 times--including twice in a row, on the final two points of the match. He also committed 28 unforced errors while hitting just 15 winners.

"It was certainly a very bad day for me," Djokovic said. "I didn't do anything that I was supposed to do, and he was very solid in all segments of the game. He was serving well and putting a lot of pressure on me."

While Safin's current ranking (75th) suggested he shouldn't have posed much of a challenge to Djokovic, tennis insiders knew it would be a tricky match-up. The 6-4 Safin is a massive presence on court, with booming groundstrokes. He is loaded with talent and credentials, having won the 2005 Australian Open and 2000 U.S. Open. He is also famously temperamental, which tends to keep opponents off balance.

"He is known for his mental instability, in some ways," Djokovic conceded. "But he is still a great player."

Safin next plays 29th-seeded Andreas Seppi, who beat Florent Serra 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4.

Safin, 28, credited his victory as much to Wimbledon's slower grass courts as he did to his own play, and he thanked tournament officials for slowing the pace of the vexing surface. That said, he repeated his plaint from last from last year that Wimbledon overcharges for its strawberries and cream, which sell for roughly $5 a serving.

"The strawberries are too expensive, it's true," Safin said.

Djokovic, 21, rocketed to prominence last season, reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon and the French Open and finishing runner-up to Federer at the U.S. Open. All of his promise was validated at the start of the 2008 season, when he won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

Federer has not lost a match on grass since 2002 and had held the No. 1 ranking since January 2004. But many have predicted that his reign atop the sport could come to an end this season, given his losses in recent months to second-ranked Rafael Nadal, Djokovic and sixth-ranked Andy Roddick. Five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg went as far as picking Federer third to win Wimbledon this year, behind Nadal and Djokovic.