World No. 1 Novak Djokovic took another step toward defending his Indian Wells title with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) win over American John Isner on Wednesday.
Djokovic has struggled in the past with the 2.08m Isner’s bombing serve on the hardcourts of the California desert.
However, the reigning Australian Open champ got the best of his opponent in the key tiebreaker.
“John has one of the best serves in the game,” Djokovic said. “It was difficult to hang in there mentally. He had chances in the second set, but I managed to get through in straight sets.”
Djokovic booked a quarter-final clash with 35th-ranked Bernard Tomic of Australia.
Tomic eliminated fellow Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
In 2012, Isner upset Djokovic 7-6 (9/7), 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) in the semis, a defeat Djokovic avenged last year by beating Isner 7-5, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1 to reach the final.
Djokovic now has a 6-2 advantage in career meetings, with nine of the sets going into tiebreakers. Isner has won six of those, so Djokovic felt fortunate to squeak through this time.
Djokovic hammered seven aces and saved both break points he faced in the 1 hour, 31 minute match.
Four-time Indian Wells winner Roger Federer needed just 69 minutes to oust American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-2.
In the quarter-finals, the Swiss second seed will face ninth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 winner over compatriot Lukas Rosol.
Federer and Berdych have met 18 times with the Swiss holding a 12-6 lead.
World No. 3 Rafael Nadal rolled over France’s Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-4. The left-handed Spaniard hammered four aces and broke Simon five times to set up a meeting with hard-hitting Milos Raonic of Canada.
Raonic hammered a 241kph serve en route to a 6-3, 6-2 straight-set win over Tommy Robredo of Spain.
Raonic is in his second straight quarter-final, but he will have his work cut out for him because he has never beaten Nadal in five career meetings.
Fourth-seeded Andy Murray, trying to rebound from a season year last year, defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 in the fourth round.
Murray next faces Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, who upset fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).
In the women’s singles, Serena Williams won the clash between two of the hottest players on the WTA Tour with a straight-set victory over Swiss Timea Bacsinszky.
World No. 1 Williams extended her match win streak to 15 by beating the red-hot Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-3 on the Tennis Garden stadium court.
“She was on a winning streak, so I was like: ‘I hope I win tonight, because she hasn’t lost in a really long time,’” Williams said of Bacsinszky, who came into the tournament off back-to-back WTA titles in Acapulco and Monterrey, Mexico.
Bacsinszky’s fourth-round win over Elina Svitolina was her 15th consecutive match win, including Fed Cup play.
Williams now faces third-seeded Simona Halep after the Romanian beat Spain’s Carla Suarez in three sets.
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