Djokovic beats underdog but other seeds tumble

SURVIVING A SCARE: Serbia's Djokovic had to recover an early break in the first set.

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Rome: Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic beat Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-0 in the second round of the Rome Masters on Wednesday, while top-10 seeds David Nalbandian and David Ferrer were knocked out.

Serbia's Djokovic had to recover an early break in the first set and save two break points in the ninth game before Darcis threw away his final service game of the set to love with a series of unforced errors.

The Belgian looked dismayed at having contributed to his downfall and the world No. 3 was able to run away with second set to go through the third round.

Argentine Nalbandian, the seventh seed, lost an exciting match against Spain's Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 7-5.

Nalbandian came off the worst in a five-break first set and saved seven match points in two separate games before surrendering his serve at the end of the second.

Spanish fifth seed Ferrer collapsed after taking the first set against Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, going down 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Rafael Nadal starts his bid for fourth consecutive Rome Masters title later on Wednesday with a second-round match against fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, the unseeded 2001 champion.

Roger Federer moved into the third round on Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Guillermo Canas.

The world No. 1 will face the winner of Wednesday's late match between Italy's Potito Starace and Croatia's Ivo Karlovic.