Indian Wells: World No.1 Novak Djokovic recovered strongly from a poor start to reach the fourth round in Indian Wells, where he will face US No.1 Sam Querrey.
The Serbian was 2-5 down against Grigor Dimitrov in the first set when errors crept into 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, US No. 1 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 US 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 win over Taiwanese player Yen-Hsun Lu and now faces Argentinian player Carlos Berlocq in the fourth round.
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 $4.33 million.
IANS
First Published: Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 17:36
