Djokovic, Murray Survive Turbulent Tussles

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both encountered some turbulence on their way to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open, but neither appeared to be worse for the wear at the finish line.

By Chris Oddo

(March 10, 2012) -- Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray survived a pair of surprisingly tricky encounters at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday, as each was pushed to a decisive third set and each looked a bit out of sorts at times.

Murray, who had lost three consecutive matches at Indian Wells, and who designed his training regimen this winter partially to combat his lack of success at the first Masters 1000 event of the season, looked to be headed for another early exit on Sunday as well.

A dreadful start saw Murray fall behind a double-break at 5-1, but the former Indian Wells finalst (2009) stemmed the tide of his 22-year-old Russian opponent, Evgeny Donskoy, and rallied to level the set.

But Donskoy would stay the course in his first meeting with the World No. 3, saving six break points in an 11-minute game at 5-5 and then breaking Murray for a third time to secure the set.

“I don’t know why I’ve struggled,” said Murray. “I don’t know what the reason for that is, and I obviously started off a bit slow today.”

Murray would recover, and once he took a break lead in the second set, he was off to the races, winning 11 of the final 13 games to win 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and set up a third-round encounter with Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan.

Djokovic’s route to the third round was circuitous as well, as the World No. 1 opened his bid for a third Indian Wells title by blasting Italian Fabio Fognini in a lopsided first set that saw the Serb lose only 6 of 31 points.

Fognini, who has now lost all four meetings with Djokovic, would finally get on the scoreboard in the second set, when he held serve much to the delight of the crowd, which had begun to vociferously side with the Italian in the hopes that they’d get to some special tennis.

They would.

Fognini seemed to embrace that moment, throwing his arms into the air and cracking a wry smile. Minutes later, he held again to level the second set at 2-2, but after receiving a warning for illegal coaching from his box and a time violation infraction to boot, it looked as if Fognini’s train might slide off the rails again.

Djokovic’s 19th consecutive win looked to be all but in the books when he broke to lead 4-2, but again Fognini would rally, thanks in part to a scratchy spell from Djokovic, to break serve in the next game.

Fognini then fought off a break point to hold for 4-4, and followed that bit of excitement by saving a match point with a big serve to Djokovic’s body to hold for 5-5.

Fognini, at times brilliant and at others perplexing, would continue his charge. He earned two break points in the 11th game, breaking Djokovic on the second, and served out the set, thanks to two timid backhand errors from the World No. 1 from 30-all that feel feebly into the net.

Even though Djokovic broke early to lead 4-1, Fognini continued to battle, displaying an uncanny, deceptive quickness, accompanied by power that came in spurts, most typically when he needed it the most.

In the end, Djokovic would seal the 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 victory in one hour and fifty minutes, but not before the Indian Wells crowd gained a new appreciation for Fognini's style, and his fight.

Djokovic's victory sets up a third-rounder with Grigor Dimitrov.

Elsewhere in second-round action, Mardy Fish, playing in his first action since last September, scored an emotional three-set win over Bobby Reynolds in the day’s first match, while American Sam Querrey kept his tournament going with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ivo Karlovic.

Watch: Mardy Fish's Match Point and Reactions to His Win on Twitter.

7th-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, 11th-seeded Nicolas Almagro, 12th-seeded Marin Cilic, 16th-seeded Kei Nishikori and 19th-seeded Tommy Haas and were all winners today, while 14th-seeded Juan Monaco, 22nd-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov, 25th-seeded Jeremy Chardy and 26th-seeded Martin Klizan and were all upset victims.

(Photo Credit: Tony Chang/Chang Photography)