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.

Cancer survivor Alisa Kleybanova was selected by the Springfield Lasers with the first overall pick in today’s 2013 Mylan World TeamTennis Roster Draft at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif.  The former world No. 20 will make her Mylan WTT debut on July 8, when Springfield hosts the Boston Lobsters.

Kleybanova was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in May 2011.  She successfully returned to action in Miami last year, winning her first round match, but decided she was not healthy enough to return to the WTA Tour. The Russian has been training off the court and is looking forward to playing her first Mylan WTT season.

The top ranked players in the women’s draw were forced to work for their victories in the third round of the 2013 BNP Paribas Masters on Tuesday. Top seed Victoria Azarenka started slowly, allowing Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens to win the opening set after which Azarenka clawed her way back to win in three. 4th seed Angelique Kerber eased through her first set against another Belgian in Yanina Wickmayer, but was a break down in the second before she made a comeback to win in two straight. Australia’s Sam Stosur too had a stiff workout and was forced to dig deep for victory against 32nd seed Shuai Peng in three sets.  On the other hand, 8th seed Caroline Wozniacki had it comparatively easy and won it two comfortable sets against 29th seed Elena Vesnina.

World No.1 Victoria Azarenka is bidding to become the first woman to win back to back titles at Indian Wells since Martina Navratilova achieved the feat in 1991. Azarenka was sluggish in the opening set and Kirsten Flipkins capitalized to win it 6-3. The defending champion found her rhythm in the 2nd set and claimed it with an identical scoreline. The third set belonged to the top seed and she blitzed past her opponent 6-0 winning the match in a hour and forty six minutes to continue her unbeaten streak.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal stayed on course for a mouth watering quarterfinal clash at Indian Wells as both the living legends comfortably progressed into the fourth round. The Swiss turned in a power-packed performance and carried on from his second round victory to see off his Croatian opponent Ivan Dodig in straight sets in only 61 minutes. Nadal meanwhile had even less off a bother as his Argentine opponent Leonardo Mayer was forced to pull out of their scheduled match with a back injury. The other remaining members of the top 10 in the bottom half of the draw, Tomas Berdych and Richard Gasquet also had easy days at the office and moved into the next round without breaking into a sweat with routine straight sets victories to set up an exciting fourth round clash.

Nadal will next face qualifier Ernests Gulbis. Gulbis is on a bit off a roll and has won 13 matches in a row. The Latvian prevailed over 20th seed Andreas Seppi, coming from a set down to claim victory in three sets 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Despite the fact that Nadal has defeated Gulbis in all four of their previous meeting, Gulbis was extremely optimistic of his chances in the fourth round encounter.

The ITF announced that over 350 teams from almost 100 nations have entered the 2013 ITF junior team competitions: Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas for the 16-and-under age group, and World Junior Tennis for the 14-and-under age group.

Boys and girls teams in both age groups will contest regional qualifying events over the next few months to earn one of 16 places in the two Finals. The World Junior Tennis Finals will once again be held in Prostejov, Czech Republic on 5-10 August; while the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals will return to San Luis Potosi, Mexico on 24-29 September. The two hosts, Czech Republic and Mexico, automatically qualify for their respective finals.

Top seed Novak Djokovic and No.3 seed Andy Murray both had a difficult time in their 2nd round matches on Monday and had to play long three setters before finally progressing to the next round. While Djokovic had a lapse of concentration and conceded the second set, a rusty Murray lost the opening set and then found his game in the next two. Djokovic’s semi-final opponent in Dubai, Juan Martin Del Potro did not find things quite as difficult and sent former world no.3 Nikolay Davydenko packing in straight sets quite easily.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic was stretched to three sets in his opening match against Italy’s Fabio Fognini before finally pulling through 6-0, 5-7, 6-2. The top seed came to court on top form and won 10 of the first 11 games before the Italian launched a spirited fight back to take the second set and force the match into a decider. Djokovic though had recovered his poise and won the final set with ease 6-2.