JOIN USAustralian Open champion Novak Djokovic recovered from a poor start while third seed Andy Murray displayed much sharper form as they both advanced to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday.
Top seed Djokovic beat Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 7-6, 6-1 in an error-strewn match before Scotsman Murray overcame Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun 6-3, 6-2.
Seventh seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina brushed aside Germany's Bjoern Phau 6-2, 7-5 while eighth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withstood a fast start by Mardy Fish to overcome the American 7-6, 7-6.
Djokovic came from 2-5 down to win his opening set 7-4 on the tie-break, then broke his opponent’s serve in the second and sixth games of the second set to seal victory in just over an hour. Djokovic will meet Sam Querrey who scraped past Australian Marinko Matosevic 7-6, 6-7, 7-5.
Murray will next face Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, who eased past Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-2. In other matches, Canadian Milos Raonic fired down 16 aces as he battled past Croatia’s Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 while Germany's Tommy Haas beat Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.
Sharapova dazzles
Former champion Maria Sharapova raised her game when it mattered to storm into the women’s singles quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Spaniard Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino.
Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka also cruised into the last eight, pounding Poland’s Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 6-1.
Fifth seed Petra Kvitova advanced with a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win over fellow Czech Klara Zakopalova but third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland was knocked out, losing 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 to Russian Maria Kirilenko.
Azarenka will face eighth-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. Wozniacki beat Russian Nadia Petrova 7-6, 6-3 .