Djokovic rocked by Rochus

FORMER champion and world No.2 Novak Djokovic was knocked out of the Sony Ericsson Open, falling 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 to Belgian Olivier Rochus in his opening match.

After two rain delays that forced organisers to reschedule some matches, Rochus secured his biggest win since he beat then world No.2 Marat Safin at Wimbledon in 2002.

"He was motivated to win against somebody who's better ranked, top player," said Djokovic, who won the Miami title in 2007. "He didn't have anything to lose."

The Serb committed 62 unforced errors and nearly lost his cool during the two-hour, 55-minute second-round match.

He slammed his racket during the opening game of the second set when Rochus came back from 0-40 down and after the match he left the court to jeers but still gave the crowd a thumbs up.

"I never expected to win," said Rochus, who won a Wimbledon juniors double title with Roger Federer in 1998. "Novak, he has won a Masters Series five times; he won a grand slam, many things I have never did in my life. He is No.2, so I think he has more experience than me."

Djokovic's loss was the biggest surprise of the day but Spanish fourth seed Rafa Nadal was in no mood to be upset, breezing through his match with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Taylor Dent.

In the women's draw, Justine Henin again proved too strong for Elena Dementieva as she knocked the fifth seed out at the second-round stage with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2 win. Henin, who is a wildcard in Miami as she continues her comeback, beat Dementieva in the second round of this year's Australian Open.

While that was a hard-fought encounter, the Belgian coming through 7-5, 7-6 (8/6), this was a far more one-sided affair.

Henin did not even concede a break point in the first set and broke three times in the second to win in a little under 90 minutes.

Henin's compatriot Kim Clijsters, seeded 14 here, had an even easier day's work, brushing aside Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1 in 52 minutes.

Second seed Caroline Wozniacki was forced to work hard by qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova, before prevailing 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Ninth seed Samantha Stosur was also forced to come from a set down as she beat Carla Suarez Navarro 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Seventh seed Jelena Jankovic emerged victorious against Ukrainian qualifier Mariya Koryttseva. The 25-year-old Serbian, ranked eighth in the world, claimed six of eight break point chances to win 6-4, 6-0 in an hour and a half as she looked to claim back-to-back tournament triumphs after winning in Indian Wells.

Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka cruised past Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 12 minutes, claiming four of six break-point opportunities in the match.

There were also straight-sets wins for seeds Vera Zvonareva, Francesca Schiavone, Shahar Peer and Elena Vesnina.

Zheng Jie was less fortunate, with the 20th seed from China losing 6-4, 6-2 to Virginie Razzano of France.

Lucie Safarova saw off another seeded opponent Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, with the Czech winning the match 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, while 24th seed Alisa Kleybanova slipped 6-4, 7-5 to Sara Errani.

Dominika Cibulkova, seeded 26th, was comfortable in a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson while 32nd seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia fought back from a set down to beat Hungary's Melinda Czink.

Another Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, knocked out Tamira Paszek 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3.