N Djokovic (Ser) 3 v M Safin (Rus) 4-6 6-7 2-6

Every tournament produces its shock result, but the manner in which Novak Djokovic folded at Wimbledon Wednesday afternoon was surprising, to say the least. In talking the match up, the BBC commentators Tuesday evening had pondered what would happen if Marat Safin turned in a good performance, speculating on a possible thrilling exhibition of hard and fast hitting. But they can hardly have foreseen the manner in which Djokovic would fail to provide his half of the deal. A match where serving was going to be important saw Djokovic serve three doubles on crucial points (eleven in total) and risking way too much on his second. All credit must go to Safin, ranked 75 in the world, for the way he remained focused and took the game to his opponent.

Djokovic opened the serving and immediately faced three break points. That set the tone. Safin was calm and looked as though he was not going to shy from playing big points. Already it was obvious who was going to be made to work. As each player traded long and searching ground strokes, it was Safin dictating the placing of the ball and Djokovic who was having to cover the angles from his end of the court. A second break in the seventh game put Safin in control to take the first set 6-4.

The second set found Djokovic again facing a break at 1-1 and only a Safin backhand drifting long and two big first serves brought reprieve. Each player then held, forcing the set to the inevitable tie-break. At 1-2, down and serving, Djokovic hit a long forehand to gift the first mini-break to Safin. A second error then pushed the score 1-4 in the Russian’s favour. With a two set deficit a real possibility, the Serb’s anxiety was becoming obvious. He was having difficulty gauging his length and too often his play was loose or ineffective.