Tennis: Djokovic survives ‘close’ match to advance

Defending Indian Wells champion through to fourth round.

INDIAN WELLS:

World number one Novak Djokovic continued his domination over Kevin Anderson, rolling over the South African 6-2, 6-3 in the third round of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells tournament.

Top-seed Djokovic has now beaten Anderson four straight times, including three matches in 2011. After winning the Australian Open, defending champion Djokovic is now 12-1 for the season in his third tournament.

“I think I served well and put a lot of pressure on him and returned really, really good,” said Djokovic. “So I’m really happy with this win. It wasn’t easy.”

The 24-year-old Serb advances to the fourth round, where he will play Spaniard Pablo Andujar, who beat countryman Albert Ramos 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

“It was close. The score doesn’t indicate how close it was. I played him a couple of times before and in most of our matches the first set goes for a half hour or more.”

Mixed day for Australians

Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden surprised Mardy Fish, beating the eighth-seeded American 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round.

However, playing for the first time since their epic three-hour, 16-minute match at the US Open last year, Nadia Petrova outlasted Australia’s Samantha Stosur in another three-set marathon.

This time, Petrova won on the third match point but she needed two hours, 46 minutes to defeat sixth-seeded Stosur 6-1, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5).

“After that loss in New York it has been hard,” said Petrova. “I was very pumped coming out today. I wanted to turn everything around and win.”

In other third-round matches Monday, second-seed Maria Sharapova defeated Romania’s Simona Halep 6-3, 6-4 and defending champ Caroline Wozniacki outlasted unseeded Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the night match.

Sharapova, who is chasing the world number one ranking, advances to the fourth round where she will play Roberta Vinci of Italy.

Wozniacki needed two hours and 37 minutes to oust Arvidsson who was fresh off winning her second WTA Tour career title last month in Memphis.

“I have known Sofia since I was 12 or 13,” said Wozniacki. “We practised together and we know each other’s games so well. She just came from a win in Memphis so I know she was on fire. I am so happy with the win.”

France’s Marion Bartoli beat Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-2, 6-0 and Lucie Safarova advanced when Italy’s Francesca Schiavone retired from their match after the first set with a virus. Schiavone was behind 6-2 when she pulled out.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2012.