Paire ousts out-of-sorts Djokovic in Miami

Miami, March 24: Benoit Paire dealt another blow to a listless Novak Djokovic by knocking the former world number one out of the Miami Open in the second round on Friday.

Djokovic was beaten by Taro Daniel at Indian Wells last week in his first match since returning from an elbow injury and 12-time grand slam champion has now lost three matches in a row for the first time since 2007 after going down 6-3 6-4 to the unseeded Paire.

The 30-year-old was a shadow of his former self, winning just 53 per cent of points on his first serve and failing to break of serve.

Djokovic was aiming to win the tournament for a record seventh time, but never looked like bettering his coach Andre Agassi's tally of six in a flat performance as his 16-match winning run in Miami came to a juddering halt.

The Serbian said he was competing pain-free for the "first days in a long, long time", yet he was way off the standards he has set over the years and the clinical Paire took advantage.

Djokovic lost only two points in his first three service games, but Paire was a break up at 4-3 when the ninth seed mistimed a forehand and landed awkwardly.

Paire wrapped up the set with a second break, a struggling Djokovic thudding a backhand into the net, having been 40-0 up.

Djokovic lacked the movement that has made him such a force and his stray backhand put the Frenchman a break up at 4-2 in the second set.

A rasping forehand winner finally gave Djokovic a break to get back on serve, but Paire unleashed a stunning backhand to move two points from victory and sealed his third-round spot when his out-of-sorts opponent netted another backhand.

Source: OPTA