MOSCOW, March 13 (R-Sport) - World No. 1 Novak Djokovic recovered strongly from a poor start to reach the fourth round in Indian Wells, where he will face the incoming United States No. 1.
The Serbian was 5-2 down against Grigor Dimitrov in the first set when errors crept into the his Bulgarian opponent’s game, allowing Djokovic to emerge the winner by a score of 7-6(4), 6-1.
Djokovic broke back in the first set thanks to four double faults from Dimitrov and said that was the key point.
"He started off well today, but then I think he gave me the break with four double faults," Djokovic said on the ATP website.
"I haven't done much really in the match in the second set when I made two breaks. It was all of his unforced errors, so I just needed to hang in there and try to be patient.”
Djokovic’s fourth-round opponent is 23rd seed Sam Querrey, whose 7-5(5), 6-7(7), 7-5 win over Australia’s Marinko Matosevic ensured he will overtake John Isner in the rankings and become the new U.S. No. 1.
"It means a lot. It's a great feeling," Querrey said on the ATP website. "I feel like I have worked hard to earn it.”
Djokovic has won four of his five previous matches with California-born Querrey, but lost their last encounter in Paris in November.
Elsewhere, Britain’s Andy Murray had few problems in his 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Taiwanese player Yen-Hsun Lu and now faces Argentinian player Carlos Berlocq in the fourth round.
It will be the first meeting between Murray and BErlocq, who upset Japanese 16th seed Kei Nishikori in the third round 6-2, 6-2.
Former US No. 1 Mardy Fish, seeded 32nd, failed to match Querrey in reaching the fourth round, going down to a 7-6(4), 7-6(0) defeat against eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The Frenchman’s reward is a meeting with Canada’s Milos Raonic, who beat Croatia’s Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
German veteran Tommy Haas, the 19th seed, will play seventh-seeded Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro after both won their third-round matches.
Haas relied on his stamina in a 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(2) win over 11th seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain, while del Potro ended a promising run from Germany’s unseeded Bjorn Phau with a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
The Indian Wells Masters, known as the BNP Paribas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a hard-court ATP 1000 series tournament with a prize fund of $5.2 million.
