Novak Djokovic crashes out, Rafael Nadal wins

TIL Desk Sports/ Former world number one Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise second-round exit at the Barcelona Open when the Serb was beaten 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 by world number 140 Martin Klizan on Wednesday.

But favourite and 10-times champion Rafael Nadal eased past fellow Spaniard Roberto Carballes-Baena 6-4, 6-4 in his first appearance at this year’s tournament to reach the third round and set a record by winning 38 consecutive sets on clay.

Second seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria also moved smoothly past Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-1 to reach the last 16. Djokovic, who received a bye in the opening round, has not made the last eight of a tournament since last year’s Wimbledon and has struggled with a long-term elbow injury.

The 30-year-old lost to Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters last week and looked far from his best in what was his second career appearance in Barcelona. Klizan claimed the first set in just 32 minutes before Djokovic broke the Slovakian’s serve twice to take the second.