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AFP
Barcelona
Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise defeat in his latest comeback from injury after the Serb was beaten by Martin Klizan in his first match at the Barcelona Open on Wednesday.
Djokovic had been on course to meet Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals in Spain but a disjointed display gave Klizan, ranked 140th in the world, a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory.
Tournament favourite and 10-time winner Rafael Nadal beat Spanish compatriot Roberto Carballes Baena to reach the third round.
While Klizan goes through to meet Spanish clay-court specialist Feliciano Lopez in the last 16, Djokovic will now have to reset, with the French Open next month fast approaching.
His latest setback is not the shock it once might have been.
After losing in the Australian Open fourth round in January, Djokovic underwent surgery to correct an injury to his right elbow, which had been troubling him for almost two years.
The problem has coincided with a prolonged slump in form for the 12-time major champion, who has reached only one grand slam final since winning the French Open in 2016.
But a reunion with long-time coach Marian Vajda earlier this month had sparked hopes Djokovic could yet steer his career back on track.
There were encouraging signs in Monte Carlo last week, despite a three-set defeat to Dominic Thiem, with Djokovic declaring there he was finally playing without pain.
He was well below his best against Klizan, however, as the Slovak claimed his first victory against a top-20 opponent in just over two years.
After a miserable opening set, Djokovic looked to have found his groove in the second as he dominated from the baseline and began to find the corners with his forehand.
But, while at his best Djokovic was always ice cool under pressure, he buckled in the decider, planting a Klizan lob into the net before a nervy forehand volley conceded the crucial break at 4-3.
Serving for the match, Klizan double-faulted but he had three chances to close out and clinched the second when another Djokovic forehand missed its mark.
Nadal, playing on the court named in his honour, followed up his victory over Kei Nishikori in Monte Carlo on Sunday by edging past the hard-working Carballes with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Carballes, ranked 77th, worked Nadal hard by breaking him in the first game, but eventually the World No 1 battled back to overcome him.
Nadal also set a new record for the most consecutive sets won on clay - overcoming Romanian Ilie Nastase's 36 in a row, which Nadal matched in Monte Carlo - by reaching 38.
Earlier Wednesday, Nishikori retired during his first match of the tournament, against Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who will now face Nadal in the third round.
"I started feeling discomfort again during the first set and I did not want to take any risks,"~explained the Japanese World No 22.
Second seed Grigor Dimitrov, from Bulgaria, eliminated France's Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-1, while Australian Dominic Thiem saw off Spain's Jaume Munar 7-6 (10-8), 6-1.
Results
Barcelona Open
(x denotes seeding):
2nd round
Guillermo Garc?a-L?pez (ESP) bt Kei Nishikori (JPN x14) 6-3, 0-0 -- retired
Martin Klizan (SVK) bt Novak Djokovic (SRB x6) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
Jozef Koval?k (SVK) bt Guido Pella (ARG) 6-3, 6-3
Dominic Thiem (AUT x3) bt Jaume Munar (ESP) 7-6 (10/8), 6-1
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x2) bt Gilles Simon (FRA) 6-2, 6-1
WTA Stuttgart Grand Prix
1st round
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt Sloane Stephens (USA x7) 6-1, 6-0
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) bt Carla Su?rez (ESP) 7-6 (7/5), 6-2
Zarina Diyas (KAZ) bt Carina Witthoeft (GER) 6-3, 6-2
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) bt Madison Keys (USA) 7-6 (9/7), 5-7, 6-4
Hungarian Open
1st round
Maximilian Marterer (GER) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Yannick Maden (GER) bt Marton Fucsovics (HUN x6) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) bt Attila Balazs (HUN) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4)
Andreas Seppi (ITA x8) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-4, 6-2
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER x7) bt Jurgen Zopp (EST) 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
Alexander Bublik (KAZ) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5
