Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts during his second-round loss to Russia's Marat Safin on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, yesterday. - AP

WIMBLEDON, England (AP):

NOVAK DJOKOVIC was upset in straight sets by Marat Safin in the second round yesterday, 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 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. The Swiss star looked anything but vulnerable as he continued his bid for a sixth straight Wimbledon title.

More troubles

Women'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 29-year-old Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 10-8.

Two-time champion Serena Williams had less trouble, advancing 6-4, 6-4 over Urszula Radwanska on court two, 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.

Very bad day

"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?

"Now, I'll have to check ... the way I'm playing now, I could go far."

Far from convincing

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."

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 three hours, 24 minutes.

"It was an amazing match ... one of my longest ever," said Ivanovic, who dropped her service five times but had twice as many winners (72) as unforced errors (36). "In the second set I saved some match points and from that point on, I just thought it's my second chance."

Ivanovic next plays China's Zheng Jie, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Britain's Elena Baltacha.