DJOKOVIC OUSTED IN SECOND ROUND AT AUSSIE OPEN

No. 2 seed stunned in second round; Serena advances.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — It started badly for Novak Djokovic, who needed 24 serves, six break-point saves and 15 minutes just to hold his first game in the second round.

This was not the close-to-invincible Djokovic that fans were used to seeing at the Australian Open, where he has won a record-equaling six titles, including five in the previous six years.

In his earliest loss at a Grand Slam tournament since 2008, Djokovic lost 7-6 (8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 Thursday to No. 117-ranked Denis Istomin, a 30-yearold wild-card entry from Uzbekistan.

“All the credit to Denis for playing amazing. He deserves to win,” Djokovic said of their four-hour, 48-minute match. “He was the better player in the clutch moments.

“Obviously, I was not pleased with my performance overall, but I have to congratulate my opponent. Whenever he needed, he came up with a big serve, big play.”

Djokovic hadn’t dropped a set to Istomin in six previous matches. But he lost the 85-minute first set in a tiebreaker and then seemed to get the momentum back, only for Istomin to finish stronger.

Istomin’s only previous win in 33 matches against top-10 players was in 2012 versus then-No. 5 David Ferrer.

“It is the biggest win for me. It means so much,” Istomin said. “Now I feel I can play with these guys, and to be with them on the same level.”

Serena Williams, who like Djokovic was ranked No. 2 and is a six-time Australian Open champion, kept her chase for a record 23rd major title on track with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Lucie Safarova.

After winning a rematch of the 2015 French Open final against Safarova, Williams will play fellow American Nicole Gibbs.

“It’s never easy to play in the second round someone you’ve seen in the final of the biggest stage in tennis,” Williams said. “I’m happy to have gotten through it.”

Third-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska didn’t last much longer than Djokovic, losing her second-round match to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 6-2. Radwanska reached the semifinals in Melbourne last year; Lucic-Baroni hadn’t won an Australian Open match since 1998 until her first-round win this week.

Djokovic was the only one of the men’s seeded players to lose on a long day capped by ninth-seeded Rafael Nadal’s 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 win over 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis.

Djokovic held all four majors simultaneously after winning his first French Open last year. Now the French is the only one he can defend in 2017. He had reached the fourth round or better in Australia every year since 2007, and held the No. 1 ranking for 122 consecutive weeks until he was overhauled by Andy Murray last November.

“First of all, I feel sorry for Novak,” Istomin said. “I was playing so good today. I surprised myself, as well.”

AARON FAVILA / ASSOCIATED PRESS Denis Istomin, a No. 117-ranked wild-card entry from Uzbekistan, exults at the end of his victory over Novak Djokovic — just his second career win against a top-10 player.