World number one Novak Djokovic defeated Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (4), 6-1 to reach the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday making it 20 straight wins for the Serb.
Djokovic trailed 5-3 in the first set when the 21-year-old Bulgarian committed six double-faults, including four in one game, to allow Djokovic to force the set to a tie break, which Djokovic won comfortably. The second set was something of a walk over, with Novak taking all the fight out of his opponent.
Djokovic moves on to play Sam Querrey, a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (7), 7-5 winner over Marinko Matosevic. Djokovic hasn’t lost since October 31 when he was beaten by the American Querrey.
The defending Womens champion, Victoria Azarenka also continued her unbeaten streak moving to 17 games unbeaten after her victory over Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 6-1, despite a slight ankle problem which gave her trouble throughout.
“I could overcome those things and manage to take these chances in the important moments and really go for my shots, to make that happen, not to wait for her mistake,” she said after the game.
“Because at some point I was waiting for her mistake, and I can’t do that. She wasn’t missing because she’s a very, very consistent player, so I decided to just take everything in my own hands and see where it takes me.”
Maria Sharapova joined Azarenka in the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino of Spain, someone she had never played before.
“(Arruabarrena-Vecino) Just didn’t get a good rhythm on her game from the beginning,” Sharapova said. “Maybe I was going for the lines a little bit more than I had to, especially in the first few games when you don’t know too much about your opponent or haven’t played her.
“Towards the end of the first and beginning of the second set I really stepped it up, I was being more aggressive, and really gave myself a better margin than I did throughout the first set.”
World number three Andy Murray also moved on to round four after a comfortable straight sets victory over Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan 6-3, 6-2.
