Novak Djokovic had been tipped by Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras to pose a genuine threat to defending champion Roger Federer and second seed Rafael Nadal at this year's Wimbledon.

But former world No1 Marat Safin made a mockery of those comments today with an unexpectedly one-sided second-round victory over the third seed.

The unseeded Safin was as magnificent in taking it 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 as the Serbian was disappointing.

Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, was simply never at the races.

Last year's semi-finalist failed to get the measure of his Russian rival who has previously not got further than the quarter-final in eight Wimbledon visits.

Djokovic, 21, had reached at least the third round in his last nine majors, while Safin's disappointing form this year had seen him depart in the second round from both the Australian and French Opens.

It should have been an easy afternoon in the Centre Court sun for world No3 Djokovic, ranked 72 places above his rival, but from the start it never happened that way.

The sultry conditions on Centre Court appeared to have got to Djokovic because he quickly found himself three break points down in the first game.

Fortunately, Safin seemed so surprised by his good fortune that he panicked and three unforced errors brought his opponent back to deuce. A wild, and wide, forehand gave Djokovic the lead for the first time and he promptly took the opening game with an ace.

It was essential that Safin kept in touch with Djokovic because the Russian came to the match with a reputation for being a notoriously moody individual and there was always the risk that if the No3 seed drew too far ahead then the older man would throw the towel in.

In fact, it was Safin who maintained the initiative by taking Djokovic's second service game to deuce and then breaking him in a one-sided sixth game of the set.

Safin raced to three break points, then saw the strangely lethargic Djokovic give it all away with a double fault.

Djokovic rallied in the next game in which he attacked Safin's backhand and then finished it off with a brilliant backhand down the line.

Back came Safin, thrilling the crowd by racing to a love-40 lead against Djokovic's serve and then taking his second break game with a cross court volley.

Djokovic again showed his mettle by breaking back and then holding his serve.

But frustration was clearly setting in and he bounced his racket hard into the hallowed turf as Safin's luck held in the 10th game.

He had already lost one set point to an unforced error when a forehand mishit off the frame totally deceived Djokovic.

A smiling Safin was gracious enough to hold up a hand to acknowledge his good fortune, but he then turned deadly serious to take the set 6-4.

This was the second time the two protagonists had met, Safin handing a lesson to the 17-year-old Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the Australian Open in 2005 when on his way to the Grand Slam title. There was no danger of a repeat scoreline this time around, but a determined Safin was sticking to his guns and forced two more break points early in the second set.

Djokovic grimly held his nerve to stay in front and slowly began to hold serve only for Safin to force a tie-break.

The crowd was loving this unexpected turn of events, and they cheered on Safin as he produced an inspired mix of great returns, forehand winners and deft changes of angle to take it 7-3 for a two-set lead. If Djokovic was to save face it had to happen in the third set.

However, he had managed just one previous comeback from two sets down in his career and never looked likely to improve that statistic.

Another costly double-fault gifted Safin a break of serve and 2-0 lead in the third set, leaving the Russian simply to serve out for a famous victory.

The eventual climax summed up the way the match had gone.

The 28-year-old set up two match points with an awesome backhand winner down the line and, although Djokovic saved those and one more, two more consecutive double faults gifted Safin a victory and the biggest shock of the championships so far.

The two men embraced at the net, but it was only Safin who was smiling as they headed for the locker room.