Djokovic advances despite dropped set against Alejandro Gonzalez
Meanwhile, Serbia's Jelena Jankovic ends losing record against Caroline Wozniacki
Normal service resumed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Tuesday as Novak Djokovic safely booked his place in the fourth round.
The Serbian had a little hiccup when he dropped the second set of his match with Colombia’s Alejandro Gonzalez but was otherwise untroubled in winning 6-1 3-6 6-1.
“I thought I played really well from the start," said Djokovic, a two-time champion at Indian Wells. “Then suddenly I just had a big loss of concentration and allowed him to win the second set for no reason. I bounced back better in the third.”
I obviously cannot allow myself to have these particular concentration lapses in the match at this level especially in the next match when I’m playing Cilic.
While he was not at his best, Djokovic did at least survive to fight another day in the Californian desert after the shock losses of Rafa Nadal and Maria Sharapova on Monday.
Djokovic’s next opponent is the big-serving Croatian Marin Cilic, who recorded his 20th win this season with a 6-4 6-3 over Spain’s Tommy Robredo.
“I obviously cannot allow myself to have these particular concentration lapses in the match at this level especially in the next match when I’m playing Cilic, a guy who is in really good form and I think has gotten better in last couple of months working with (Goran) Ivanisevic.”
While Robredo lost to the towering Cilic, three of his compatriots all advanced, with Fernando Verdasco upsetting world number nine Richard Gasquet of France 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 to leave Djokovic as the only top-10 player left in the bottom half of the men’s draw.
Roberto Bautista Agut held his nerve to beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 6-2 4-6 7-6 (8-6) to move on before Feliciano Lopez joined the Spanish Armada with a 1-6 6-3 6-4 defeat of Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.