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| Top-ranked Novak Djokovic defeated Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday, improving his match record to 12-1 this year. Djokovic broke Anderson’s serve once in each set playing in the heat of the day at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where he won in 2008 and last year when the Serb claimed three Grand Slam titles and went 70-6. Djokovic successfully defended his Australian Open title to open the year. Anderson, the 29th seed from South Africa who won last week’s tournament in Florida, managed one break in the first set. Five games went to deuce before Djokovic held to lead 3-2 in the first. “He’s very aggressive on the return games,” Djokovic said. “He has a great serve, as you can imagine for his height, so I had to return well, I had to just be patient, and wait for my chances. I haven’t served well in the opening set, but then it all came down to his service games. I served well and put a lot of pressure on him and returned really, really good.” In the day’s biggest upsets, No. 6 seed Sam Stosur lost to 30-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5) in a rematch of their three-set U.S. Open marathon last year. That 2011 encounter was the longest women’s match since the tiebreaker was introduced, with Stosur winning on her way to claiming the title. On the men’s side, eighth-seeded American Mardy Fish was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden, with Fish getting penalized for hindrance. Elsewhere, No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova defeated Simona Halep of Romania 6-3, 6-4. Sharapova is one of three former winners remaining in the field, with Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic also in the bottom half of the draw. Francesca Schiavone became the eighth player to withdraw because of a viral illness sweeping the Coachella Valley. The Italian player retired after losing the first set 6-2 to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. The tournament’s medical provider says the virus causes nausea, vomiting, fever, and diarrhoea and is being transmitted by air and direct contact. It is not food-related. Vera Zvonareva also withdrew with a different viral illness. |
