He next plays Spaniard Feliciano Lopez for a place in the quarter-finals. Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal gained a modicum of revenge over Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco with a 6-0 7-6(9) triumph. Having lost to Verdasco in the opening round of the Australian Open in January, Nadal dominated early before digging in late in the second set to put the match away, saving five set points in the tie-break to triumph after falling 6-3 behind.
"I feel lucky to win the tie-break but at the same time, I played well with not many mistakes as I went for the points," said Nadal, who is looking for his fourth title at Indian Wells. "I lost matches similar to this one in Australia, in Buenos Aires and in Rio de Janeiro, so it's important for me to win matches like this." Nadal next faces 18-year-old German prospect Alexandr Zverev, who the Spaniard believes is "a possible future number one". The power-hitting Zverev confirmed his potential by breezing past 16th-seeded Gilles Simon of France 6-2 6-2 in just 67 minutes. "I thought I played really well today," said Zverev. "I was really ready for a long, long fight and a long three-set match... I'm really happy that I got through so quickly." Zverev is bidding to become the youngest quarter-finalist at the event since 1989 and to reach his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final in just his fifth tournament at this level. Earlier, Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori reached the round of 16 with a 7-6(6) 7-6(5) win over American Steve Johnson. Nishikori, chasing his second ATP World Tour title of the season after victory in Memphis last month, will next face big-serving American ninth seed John Isner, who fired 15 aces in his 6-4 7-6(4) win over France's Adrian Mannarino. France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took down American Sam Querrey 6-3 6-4.
(Reporting by Larry Fine; Additional reporting by Jahmal Corner; Editing by John O'Brien)
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