Another early exit for struggling Djokovic

Former world No 1 Novak Djokovic suffered another early exit as Slovakia’s Martin Klizan won their second round match at the Barcelona Open.

Djokovic has now won just two of five matches since the Australian Open, where he was beaten by Chung Hyeon, after a 6-2 1-6 6-3 loss yesterday.

Klizan converted all three of his break points to prevail.

After losing to Dominic Thiem of Austria at the Monte Carlo Masters last week, the 30-year-old Serb experienced another defeat ahead of the French Open at Roland Garros, which begins on May 22.

Djokovic has not reached the last eight of a tournament since Wimbledon last year and has struggled with a long-term elbow injury.

Klizan, a qualifier and world No 140, will meet Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard’s win over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.

Top seed Rafael Nadal and second seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria experienced no problems, but Japan’s Kei Nishikori retired after losing the first set to Guillermo Garcialopez with a right wrist problem.

Nadal beat fellow Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4 6-4 to win his 37th and 38th consecutive sets on clay, breaking a record he had jointly held with Ilie Nastase.

Dimitrov defeated France’s Gilles Simon 6-2 6-1, while Thiem, the third seed, defeated wildcard Jaume Munar of Spain 7-6 (10-8) 6-1.

Martin Klizan: Added to Djokovic’s woes.