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 semifinals 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 matches. The Swiss star looked anything but vulnerable as he continued his bid for a sixth straight Wimbledon title.
“I think I played well. Moving well, feeling good,” Federer said. “I got my first break (against) on grass this year, still, not too concerning. Honestly, I thought the performance was excellent.”
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 semifinal 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 semifinal here. Now, it will be Safin who will try to go down that path.
getCSS("3053751") WimbledonJune 23-July 6 Women: World No. 1 Ivanovic survives thrillerMen: Safin stuns Djokovic; Federer sweeps Austin: Wimbledon so very special for VenusSharapova dons tuxedo top for first roundAustin: Venus, Serena and Maria rate edgeCollins: Nadal will be new Wimbledon wonder Mad Dog: Pressure is on FedererVotes: Men's winner? | Women's champ? Sound off on tennis message boardsBut 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. “Now, I’ll have to check — the way I’m playing now, I could go far.”
Djokovic was far from convincing, playing on a surface he is not entirely comfortable on and struggling with his serve in a blustery breeze. After saving three match points, he served a double-fault to give his Russian opponent a fourth, then double-faulted for the 10th time to concede.
“I was serving a lot of double-faults, which is unusual,” said Djokovic, who was broken twice in each of the first and third sets and only broke Safin’s serve once. “I was just not finding my momentum.”
Lleyton Hewitt, the only other Wimbledon champion in the men’s draw, 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, No. 13 Stanislas Wawrinka and American Bobby Reynolds, who had a 4-6, 7-6 (10), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Canadian Frank Dancevic.
Another former No. 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero had to retire with a leg injury in the third set when he trailing Mischa Zverev.
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