Djokovic Holds off Kohlschreiber; Thiem Tops Sock

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic fended off a late fightback from Philipp Kohlschreiber to book his place in the BNP Paribas Open fourth round with a 7-5, 7-5 victory on Tuesday night at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The 28-year-old Djokovic goes on to face the only man to have beaten him all year - Feliciano Lopez - on Wednesday for a spot in the quarterfinals. Lopez scored a rare win over Djokovic in the Dubai quarterfinals last month, when the Serb retired with an eye problem after losing the first set.
Djokovic is chasing an unprecedented fifth Indian Wells crown and his third in a row. The Belgrade native moved to a 43-6 tournament record as he edged Kohlschreiber in one hour and 39 minutes.

Djokovic let slip a 5-2 lead in the second set, squandering four match points as he served for victory in the ninth game. But the right-hander broke Kohlschreiber decisively in the 12th game to seal victory - his eighth in nine meetings with the No. 30-ranked Kohlschreiber.
"I allowed myself twice to lose serve when I was a break up in both sets," said Djokovic. "Those things cannot happen. I cannot allow myself any more to react that way in those particular circumstances.

"I was fortunate today to manage to win in straight sets. But Kohlschreiber is an experienced player. He has played so many times on the big occasions, so he knows how to capitalize on the opportunities and come back into the match.

"I just put myself in a very difficult position after that. But there are more positive things I can take out of this match today comparing it with the first one."
Djokovic has an 18-1 match record this season, highlighted by the title in Doha (d. Nadal) and his 11th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open (d. Murray).
Dominic Thiem finished strongly to defeat Jack Sock 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-1 in a third-round contest between two of the ATP World Tour’s most exciting young talents. The 22-year-old Austrian responded to the loss of a tight second set by reeling off five games in a row. Sock broke back as Thiem served for the match, but the right-hander immediately struck again to claim victory in two hours and 14 minutes.
Thiem has been one of the form players on the ATP World Tour in 2016, surging to a career-high World No. 13 after beating Rafael Nadal en route to the Buenos Aires title and winning his first ATP World Tour 500 crown in Acapulco.
Next up for the Austrian, as he looks to reach his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarterfinal, will be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The seventh-seeded Tsonga defeated home favorite Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-4 in 74 minutes.

Source: BNP Paribas Open