Novak Djokovic was upset in straight sets by Marat Safin in the second round, ending the Serb’s chances of testing his theory about Roger Federer’s vulnerability at Wimbledon.The 75th-ranked Safin won 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Centre Court. It was a stunning loss for the third-ranked Djokovic, who came to the All England Club confident after beating top-ranked Federer in the semi-finals at this year’s Australian Open en route to his first Grand Slam tournament title.Top-ranked Federer only had a minor hiccup — dropping serve once, the first time since Roland Garros — before getting past Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) to extend his streak on grass to 61. The Swiss start looked anything but vulnerable as he continued his bid for a sixth straight Wimbledon title.Ivanovic survivesWomen’s No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, another Serb, also struggled but won. The French Open champion saved two match points — including one that bounced off the net chord for a winner — in the second set before overcoming Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 10-8.Ivanovic was erratic against 97th-ranked Dechy, who saved two match points on her own serve in the 12th game of the third set. Ivanovic set up three more match points at 0-40 six games later and, after Dechy saved one, the 20-year-old Serb squealed with delight and kissed the net after hitting a forehand winner to end it in 3 hours, 24 minutes. Ivanovic next plays China’s Zheng Jie, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Britain’s Elena Baltacha.Two-time champion Serena Williams had less trouble, advancing 6-4, 6-4 over Urszula Radwanska on Court 2, called the “graveyard of champions” for its history of upsets.Djokovic came up against one of the toughest second-round opponents he could have drawn. Former No 1 Safin has won two Grand Slam titles. One came when he upset Federer in an Australian Open semi-final en route to the 2005 title. Safin beat Djokovic in the first round of that tournament — their only previous meeting.“It was certainly a very bad day for me,” the 21-year-old Djokovic said. “I didn’t do anything that I was supposed to — he was very solid in all segments.”Djokovic had said Federer was vulnerable after his recent lopsided French Open loss to No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal. The hype surrounding those comments set up the possibility of an enticing semi-final here. Now, it will be Safin who will try to go down that path. But not before offering some thoughts on what led to his victory over Djokovic. “He didn’t impress me with his game today. I could read his serve. I could return,” the 28-year-old Russian said. “I could stay with him from the baseline, and that’s it.”Safin said he came in under the radar, and that Djokovic had all the pressure. “He’s the one who has to win matches. For me, nobody expects anything,” said Safin, admitting that he had not dared look beyond the second round. “The guy won the Australian Open, semi-finals of French Open, winning tournaments left and right. You play against him, and the last time I won two matches in a row was I don’t remember when. So what do you expect?”In other women’s matches, 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo recovered to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 over Virginia Ruano Pascual and 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli beat Tatiana Perebiynis 6-2, 7-5. Also advancing were No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova, and No. 8 Anna Chakvetadze.Lleyton Hewitt survived Court 2 with a 7-6 (4), 6-0, 6-2 win over Albert Montanes of Spain. Others advancing were No. 10 Marcos Baghdatis and No. 13 Stanislas Wawrinka. Juan Carlos Ferrero had to retire with a leg injury in the third set when he trailing Mischa Zverev.
