Djokovic suffers shock defeat by Klizan in Barcelona

Former world No.1 Novak Djokovic crashed out in the second round of the Barcelona Open at the hands of Slovakian world No 140 Martin Klizan.

Meanwhile, tournament favourite and 10-time winner Rafael Nadal beat Spanish compatriot Roberto Carballes Baena to reach the third round.

Djokovic, who has fallen to 12th in the world rankings, has endured a difficult year and fell to a 6-2 1-6 6-3 defeat in his first match in Catalonia, after being eliminated in the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters last week.

“It’s tough to deal with this kind of loss,” said Djokovic, who is coming back following elbow surgery in February and now has a 5-5 record in 2018.

“I’m trying to get the rhythm and I want to have more matches but unfortunately that’s sport, you can’t always play like you wish, but I’ll try to keep on going and see where it takes me.”

‘It’s a great feeling to beat Djokovic’

The 30-year-old has played just 10 matches since last year’s Wimbledon, after which he decided to skip the rest of the 2017 season to rest his elbow.

“It’s a combination of things,” the Serb said of his struggle for form.

“You can work very hard on the practice courts but when you get into the match it’s completely different. I haven’t had too many matches in the last 12 months. Hopefully I can get some more in the future.”

Klizan broke in the first game and took the set after 32 minutes, but Djokovic came back strongly in the second. For a time, the former world No 1 looked like he would go on to progress.

A win to remember for Martin Klizan!

Solid performance to score a 6-2 1-6 6-3 win over Djokovic.#bcnopenbs pic.twitter.com/PRGsePDvCq

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 25, 2018

However, in a tense third set, Klizan triumphed to beat Djokovic for the first time and eliminate the wildcard entry.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion had problems with his backhand and made 22 unforced errors as he continued to struggle after a lingering injury to his right elbow.

“I feel I haven’t lived up to your expectations, not even my own,” added Djokovic.

“I wasn’t playing at my best, only during the second set. I will try to continue and see where it takes me.”

Klizan said: “This was the first time [I have faced him] on clay finally, and I beat him. It’s a great feeling, it’s just amazing.”

Nadal extends record to 38 sets in a row

Playing on the court named in his honour, Nadal 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 – passing Romanian Ilie Nastase’s 36 in a row set 45 years ago, which he matched in Monte Carlo – by reaching 38.

Woodbridge: ‘Can anyone challenge Nadal on clay?’ 

“It was a difficult game, I committed a couple of errors,” said Nadal. “The first round is always hard after coming from Monte Carlo.”

Earlier on 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.

Second-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, from Bulgaria, eliminated France’s Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-1, while Austria’s Dominic Thiem saw off Spain’s Jaume Munar 7-6 (10-8) 6-1.

Spanish trio Pablo Andujar, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and Pablo Carreno Busta, made it to the last 16, along with Jozef Kovalik, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Karen Khachanov.