Novak Djokovic slips out of Queen's

LONDON: Fourth seed Novak Djokovic's Wimbledon preparations were thrown off course on Friday when he was upstaged by Arnaud Clement in the third round at Queen's.   

The Serbian, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last week, did not find the slick surface to his liking and was humbled 2-6 6-3 6-4 by the 14th-seeded Frenchman as dark clouds gathered over west London.   

Like Clement, French Open champion Rafael Nadal will have to contest back-to-back matches on day five of the grasscourt championships.   

The Spanish top seed had been on the brink of winning his match on Thursday when rain suspended play for the day. On resumption, he needed just three minutes to swat aside Max Mirnyi 7-6 6-3, with the Belarussian winning only one point on Friday before bowing out.   

Nadal, runner-up to Roger Federer at Wimbledon last July, will next test his grasscourt credentials against Nicolas Mahut.   

Mahut completed a good day for the French when he claimed the scalp of fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 6-3.   

Clement's prize for engineering Djokovic's downfall was a date with the tallest man in the sport, 2.08-metre Croatian Ivo Karlovic.   

Three-times former champion Andy Roddick and Chilean third seed Fernando Gonzalez will be in quarter-final action later on Friday.