Novak Djokovic scored a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over 72nd-ranked American Aleksandar Kovacevic on Monday to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells for the first time since 2017.
Djokovic, playing his first tournament since losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final, had all he could handle from the 27-year-old New Yorker, who peppered the Serbian superstar with 16 aces.
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“I knew coming into the match that if he served well and found his place in the box, it would be difficult to break him,” said Djokovic, who broke Kovacevic in the final game to claim victory.
“That’s what happened actually. He was serving extremely well (except) maybe one game in the first and maybe the last game of the third set – he was a little tight, he missed a few first serves.
“He put me in a position where I can win and I took it.”
With five titles at Indian Wells, Djokovic is tied for the record with Swiss great Roger Federer.
But the Serbian superstar has not reached the quarter-finals in the Californian desert since his last title run in 2016 and he now needs to complete two three-setters to return to the round of 16.
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Djokovic took control with an early break in the first set and made it stick.
But Kovacevic was clearly warming up. He held his own in his last two service games of the first set and managed the second against a clearly frustrated Djokovic.
Djokovic regrouped in the third and, despite falling in the eighth game, found a way to win.
“That’s what matters at the end of the day, getting the ‘W,'” said Djokovic, who will face either defending champion Jack Draper or Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the quarterfinals.
Alcaraz, on a 13-0 winning streak as he seeks a third title at Indian Wells, takes on Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech under the lights at Stadium Court.
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The 22-year-old Spaniard’s triumph at the Australian Open made him the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam, and he followed that up with a title in Doha in February.
Alcaraz now aims to return to the winner’s circle at Indian Wells, where his bid for a third consecutive title last year was derailed by Draper in the semi-final.
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