Indian Wells: Novak Djokovic cruises, Aussie Ebden upsets Fish

Mar 13, 2012 |

Indian Wells (USA)

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World No. 1 Novak Djokovic continued his domination over Kevin Anderson, rolling over the South African 6-2, 6-3 in the third round of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells tournament on Monday.

Top seed Djokovic has now beaten Anderson four straight times, including three matches in 2011. After winning the Australian Open, defending champion Djokovic is now 12-1 on the season in his third tournament.

He will be hard-pressed to match his performance of last year when he had one of the best seasons in the history of the sport, but he is showing no signs of slowing down either.

"I think I served well and put a lot of pressure on him and returned really, really good," Djokovic said. "So I'm really happy with this win today. It wasn't easy."

The 24-year-old Serb advances to the fourth round, where he will play Spaniard Pablo Andujar, who beat countryman Albert Ramos 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

Djokovic had five aces, was a perfect three-for-three on break points saved and won 67 percent of his first-serve points in the 97-minute match.

Djokovic broke Anderson twice in the first set and once in the second to go up 4-2. He celebrated his victory in the ninth game of the second set when Anderson smacked a forehand wide on the first match point.

"It was close," Djokovic said. "The score doesn't indicate how close it was. I played him a couple of times before and in most of our matches the first set goes for a half hour or more."

Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden surprised Mardy Fish, beating the eighth-seeded American 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round.

The 24-year-old Ebden said the win over the US No. 1 was the biggest win of his career.

"Especially in America, to beat the top player here is, it's incredible feeling," Ebden said. "Very big win. I'm pleased with my progress."

Ebden got a break in the ninth game of the second set when the umpire called a hinderance penalty against Fish, who was serving at 4-4.

Fish lost his cool with the umpire and Ebden ended up breaking Fish to go ahead 5-4 and then served for the match, winning all four points in the final game.

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