• BNP Paribas Open

Nadal dominant but Djokovic struggles in Indian Wells

Rafel Nadal won 96% of the points on his first serve © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Hot Nadal melts Isner, Djokovic out
  
• News: Murray clinical in destruction of Russell at Indian Wells
  
• Profile: Novak Djokovic | Rafael Nadal

Monday Tennis Gallery

Defending champion Rafael Nadal continued his comeback from injury with a 6-2 6-2 win over Mario Ancic in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

The world No. 3 was on ruthless form, winning 96% of the points on his first serve and showing no signs of the knee injury that forced him to withdraw from the Australian Open in January.

Nadal - competing in his first tournament since Melbourne - wrapped up the win over his Croatian opponent in 65 minutes and will now face John Isner after the No. 15 seed saw off fellow American Sam Querrey 7-6(3) 6-4.

No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic had to save three match points as he struggled to a 6-3 2-6 7-6(3) win against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

In a remarkable match during which the momentum wildly swung between the players, the world No. 2 eventually triumphed as Kohlschreiber lost his fourth consecutive tie-break of the year.

After cruising through the first set, the Serbian player seemingly became complacent and suffered a spectacular loss of form, losing nine games in a row between the second and third sets.

On belatedly ending that sequence, Djokovic was galvanised - although never entirely fluent - as he showed both resilience and composure to save the match points and close out the win. Next up he faces Ivan Ljubicic who beat Brian Dabul 6-2 6-3.

Post-match, Djokovic said: "I think fighting spirit was there, and that's what got me through it. Suddenly [in the second set] I just dropped the level of my performance. It was all my fault, I couldn't find any rhythm. I was very fortunate to get through."

The 11th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero fell in an epic encounter against Juan Monaco that lasted over three hours. In a match of fine margins, Monaco - the No. 23 seed - sealed the victory by capitalising on his opponent's unthreatening second serve to win 7-6(2) 3-6 6-3, his first career triumph against Ferrero.

Tomas Berdych took the scalp of No.10 seed Fernando Verdasco 6-0 6-3 and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez recovered from losing the first set to beat Thomaz Bellucci 4-6 6-2 6-1.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.