World number one Novak Djokovic and fourth-seeded Andy Murray each had to contend with different degrees of adversity before they advanced to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday.
Top seed Djokovic was broken twice in his opening set against Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas before advancing 7-5, 6-3 in an evening match lasting just under an hour and a half.
Murray recovered from a surprising second-set lapse during the searing heat of the afternoon at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to beat German Phillipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
Spanish eighth seed David Ferrer made an early exit, ousted 7-5, 6-4 by Australian Bernard Tomic in the third round.
Djokovic won a topsy-turvy opening set. The Serb failed to hold in the first game before breaking back in the sixth and eighth, but was surprisingly broken again in the ninth when serving for the set at 5-3. Though Ramos-Vinolas fought back to level at 5-5, Djokovic held to love before breaking the Spanish left-hander again in the 12th, the set ending after 49 minutes when his opponent netted a backhand. The second set went with serve until a protracted eighth game which the Serb won when Ramos-Vinolas blasted a low forehand wide, then served out to love in the ninth to seal victory. Djokovic will next face John Isner, who powered past South African Kevin Anderson 7-6 (6), 6-2.
In other matches, fifth-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori fought back to beat Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4 while Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis scraped past Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (5).
Caroline Wozniacki became the biggest name to fall in the WTA event when she was ousted 6-4, 6-4 by Swiss teen Belinda Bencic on Monday. Maria Sharapova won an absorbing baseline battle with long-time rival Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3 in just under two hours while sixth-seed Eugenie Bouchard demolished American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-2.
