World No.1 Novak Djokovic looked a bit suspect in the opening rounds and with 8th see Jo-Wilfried Tsonga playing some exceptional tennis this week, their quarter-final match at the BNP Paribas Maters looked set to go either way. It was not to be though as Djokovic put paid to his critics and proved why he is the best player in the world with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-1 thrashing of the Frenchman in just 54 minutes. Djokovic will face 7th seed Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals of Indian Wells on Saturday. Del Potro fought back from a set down in the last of the men’s quarterfinals to pull off an upset against 3rd seed Andy Murray 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 in just over 2½ hours.

The Djokovic-Tsonga match got off to a good start with the Serb finding his mojo almost immediately. Tsonga, too was striking the ball well in the early exchanges. However, in a bid to outdo the champion and hit winners, the Frenchman committed a flurry of unforced errors to gift a break to the top seed for a 4-2 lead. The world no.8’s game continued to unravel as two games later the 6 time Grand Slam champion broke once again to claim the first set 6-3.

The stakes at the BNP Paribas Masters just got higher as the quality of the tennis improved to another level with the big guns having to carve out their victories in long matches to move into the quarterfinals. World No.2 Roger Federer narrowly avoided defeat as he edged out compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5. Joining him in the last eight is 3rd seed Andy Murray who won against a feisty Carlos Berlocq in straight sets 7-6, 6-4. Eight seed Jo Wilfried Tsonga also came through in a similarly hard fought encounter and came back from a set down to see off Canadian Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Kevin Anderson and Tomas Berdych also won their respective fourth round encounters to set up a great quarterfinal match-up.

Roger Federer dominated his compatriot for the better part of the first two sets and was serving for the match at 6-3, 5-4 up but the 18th seed broke Federer’s serve to love and forced the match to a tiebreak which he won 7-4. The momentum swung Wawrinka’s way and he used it to go 3-1 up in the third set putting all the pressure on the 2nd seed. Federer though was up to the challenge and he broke back to level proceedings, eventually winning the last set 7-5.

Two time champion at the BNP Paribas Masters, Novak Djokovic, extended his 2013 unbeaten streak to 15-0 with a victory over Grigor Dimitrov in the third round at Indian Wells, but only after battling back from a break down in the opening set. Joining him in the 4th round are 7th seed Juan Martin Del Potro and Jo Wilfried Tsonga who were also made to earn their victories by their unseeded opponents before eventually coming through in straight sets. In the day’s only upset Japan’s Kei Nishikori, the 16th seed, was sent packing by Argentine Carlos Berloq 6-2, 6-2 in 72 minutes.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic was 5-3 down in the opening set with Dimitrov serving for it, but the Bulgarian imploded and committed four double faults in the game and allowed the Serb to force proceedings into a tie break which he won on an unforced error from the 21 year old Dimitrov. The Serb dominated the second set and won it comfortably 6-1 to power into the last 16.

It was the artistry of Roger Federer up against the charisma of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the two veterans dished out an entertaining 3½ hours for a near capacity crowd at the Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park, with the Swiss maestro predictably prevailing in the end.

Tsonga, whose raw power and brute force is only outshone by his winning smile and extraordinary personality put it all on the line against the 17-time Grand Slam champion, but yet again fell agonizingly short, going down to the legendary Swiss maestro 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

There was a sense of inevitability about the first morning of the second week of the Australian Open with Victoria Azarenka leading the way into the Quarter-finals in dominant fashion while everyone else in action played some close matches but came away with some predictable results.

Defending champion Victoria Azarenka had been poor in her previous round against American youngster Jamie Hampton, and a response was expected from the world no.1 when she took on Hobart winner Russia's Elena Vesnina in the round of 16. Despite her excellent recent run of form, Vesnina was thoroughly outclassed by the Belarusian, who advanced to the quarter-finals with a crushing 6-1, 6-1 victory.

John Isner and Venus Williams pulled off an exciting 6-7(5) 6-2 [10-8] win over the French team of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mathilde Johansson in the live mixed doubles on day four of the Hopman Cup to give USA a 2-1 win over the French.

Earlier in the evening Tsonga got 2013 off to the perfect start with a dominant performance in his first match of the new year. The Frenchman mixed power with impressive court coverage to easily see off big-serving American John Isner in straight sets, 6-3 6-2.

Andy Murray confirmed his qualification for the semi final of the World Tour Finals with a straight set victory over Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. In a match that was a slow burner, Murray breezed through the early stages, before being forced to quell a late fightback from Tsonga to win 6-2, 7-6(3) in an hour and 35 minutes. The Scot looked imperious in the early stages but Tsonga awoke from his slumber to give Murray a real scare before finally succumbing to his third loss of the tourney. Murray joins Djokovic in the semifinal from Group A after the Serb confirmed top spot in Group A having beaten Berdych with an identical scoreline 6-2, 7-6(6). The win meant that Djokovic finished unbeaten in the group stages for the first time in his career. Also qualifying for the semifinal in the doubles were the Indian duo of Bhupathi & Bopanna. The duo progressed at the expense of defending champions Mirnyi & Nestor 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 10-5 to finish second behind Jonathan Marray and Fredrik Nielsen in Group B.