Friday, 28 March, 2008

Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise second-round exit in the Sony Ericsson Open on Friday at the hands of South African qualifier Kevin Anderson.

The third-seeded Serbian, who won the Australian Open at the start of the year, was beaten 7-6 (7/1) 3-6 6-4 in a match which lasted two hours and 21 minutes.

Djokovic lifted the title in Miami last year with a three-sets victory over Guillermo Canas of Argentina.

Yet despite three breaks of serve, the world number three was unable to get past Anderson, who will now face Igor Andreev in the third round.

Andreev, the 31st-seeded Russian, enjoyed a straightforward 6-2 6-1 success against Germany's Michael Berrer on Friday.

Ninth-seeded American James Blake secured his place in the third round on the back of a 7-5 6-3 victory over Andreas Seppi, while Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, the 16th seed, rallied for 4-6 6-1 6-4 over Croatia's Marin Cilic.

Other seeded players to progress on Friday included Juan Carlos Ferrero, a 6-3 6-2 victor over Albert Montanes, and Radek Stepanek, who completed a 6-3 6-3 success over Sebastian Grosjean.

Finland's Jarkko Niemenen was not as successful in his second-round match, with the 25th seed slipping to a 6-3 6-3 loss against Nicolas Kiefer.

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