By Mark Lamport-Stokes
INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) - World number one Novak Djokovic held off a strong fightback by Spaniard Pablo Andujar to move into the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells ATP tournament with a 6-0 6-7 6-2 victory on Wednesday.
The top-seeded Serb barely broke a sweat with an attacking display in the opening set but fell 7-5 in a second set tiebreak as the Spaniard upped his game on the stadium court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Champion here in 2008 and last year, Djokovic broke his opponent in the first game of the third set and also in the seventh before sealing victory on his first match point when Andujar hit a forehand service return wide.
"My opponent is really a quality player who deserves to be at this stage of the tournament," Djokovic said in a courtside interview. "He surprised me with his aggressive approach. He was taking the ball early and was playing well.
"In the second set, I start playing a little bit more defensive and I think that allowed him to come back to the match. All the credit for him to play the way he played.
"And then in the third set I regrouped. I managed to stay calm mentally and just find my rhythm again. In the end, I was lucky to get through some points."
The Serb, who won his fifth grand slam crown at the Australian Open in January, will next face 12th seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain, who upset seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-0.
Almagro, who lost a bad tempered fourth-round match to Berdych in four sets at the Australian Open in January when the pair last met, reached the last eight at Indian Wells for the first time.
Big-serving American John Isner, the 11th seed, also advanced with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden.
In other fourth-round matches, twice champion and second seed Rafa Nadal was playing Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov while triple winner Roger Federer was scheduled to take on unseeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci.
ERROR-PRONE ANDUJAR
In bright morning sunshine, an error-prone Andujar lost serve in the second, fourth and sixth games, twice double-faulting to be broken, as Djokovic swept through the first set in 28 minutes.
The Serb, who had fended off big-serving South African Kevin Anderson in the previous round, then began playing a little more defensively and the 45th-ranked Spaniard took advantage.
Though he squandered seven break points, Andujar went on to level the match by clinching the second set tiebreak 7-5, ending a protracted rally with a forehand winner and pumping his right fist in celebration.
Djokovic, who beat Nadal in last year's final at Indian Wells on the way to a stunning 41-0 start to the season, then regained control.
He twice broke Andujar and saved one break point on his serve in the sixth game before wrapping up the win in two hours 15 minutes.
"I believe I'm playing better as the tournament goes on, and that is the goal," said Djokovic who has won the last three grand slam singles titles.
"In that first set and in the third set today I think I've played as well as I played in this stage last year."
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)
