World number one Novak Djokovic continued his BNP Paribas Open title defence, securing his spot in the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over no.18 seed John Isner on Wednesday night.
Novak got a break at 3-3 in the first set and went on to take it 6-4 in 30 minutes.
The second set was more competitive. Djokovic fended off two break points before wrapping up the match in a tie-breaker 7-6 (5). He now leads H2H against Isner 6-2.
The top seed won 83% of his first service points and capitalised on one of his two break point chances in the one hour, 31-minute victory over the big-serving American.
“Throughout the match it was very difficult to break him, but I played a great game at 3-all in the first set and that gave me the set,” said Novak. “After that it was anybody’s game really. The second set went over 60 minutes. We were both very tight towards the end, and I was just very fortunate to go through it.”
Match statistics: aces (7-8), double faults (1-0), winners (17-26), unforced errors (11-33), total points won (71-62).
Novak will take a perfect 3-0 H2H record into his last eight meeting with no.32 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia. The match is scheduled on Thursday at 19.00 local time (Friday 03.00 CET).
Earlier on Wednesday, Tomic beat his countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis in three sets.
“He’s getting mentally more confident, more comfortable on the court. Perhaps the success of Kokkinakis and Kyrgios motivated him to really get serious and work. The talent is there, the touch is there, he’s got a game. It’s going to be a tricky match for me.”
In his 10th appearance in the desert, Djokovic is bidding for a fourth Indian Wells title this week. He was a champion at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in 2008, 2011 and 2014.
Photo: Getty Images
