World number one Novak Djokovic was taken to three sets as Fabio Fognini battled back in a hard-fought second round clash in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Djokovic, champion in Indian Wells in 2008 and 2011, had looked on course for a comfortable passage when his opponent failed to win a game in the opening set.
The Serb had won 10 of the first 11 games when Fognini fought back to win the second set before Djokovic wrapped up a 6-0 5-7 6-2 victory.
The win meant Djokovic took his un beaten 2013 record to 14-0 as he bids to add to the Australian Open and Dubai Duty Free titles.
“Mentally I was there,” said Djokovic after the match.
“Confidence level is high obviously because of the run I had this year. Game wise, everything works. I had a very bad game at 4-2, couple of unforced errors, got him back in the match. Next thing you know, we’re one set all and a couple of tight games.
“But look, I’m not concerned. I know I have been in this situation before where I had minor setbacks in a match, especially in the opening matches where I’m trying to get used to the court, the conditions, and so forth. He’s a good player on this surface.
“He loves playing on slow surfaces. He made me work. He made me earn my points. In the end, I have done what I needed to do.”
Andy Murray overcame an abysmal start to see off the challenge of unheralded Russian Evgeny Donskoy.
Playing for the first time since losing the Australian Open final to Djokovic, the world number three found himself 5-1 down in the opening set against a player ranked 80 places below him.
Murray recovered some composure but still dropped the first set before clawing his way back to win 5-7 6-2 6-2.
“I wasn’t so concerned with the whole of the first set or the start of the match,” the Brit said on Sky Sports 4.
“I went 5-1 down and after that I played pretty well. I had four or five break points at 5-5, didn’t quite get them and he came out with some big shots.
“And the game where I got broken at 6-5, I maybe played one bad point. But he did come up with some big shots and big forehand winners so I was happy with the way I played after that, I created a lot of chances.
“I haven’t played a lot of matches so I didn’t take the points as soon as I would have liked, but I hit the ball well at the end of the match.
“I hope I play better at each match. I haven’t played well here the last few years and I just need to get matches under my belt.”
Murray’s third round opponent will be Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei, who saw off Slovakian Martin Klizan 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/5).
Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro won 6-3 6-4 against Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Nicolas Almagro won 7-5 6-1 over fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver.
Marin Cilic, seeded 12th here, reached the last 32 with a battling 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 win over Spain’s Albert Ramos while another seed, Mardy Fish, was also pushed hard in a 6-3 3-6 6-4 result against American compatriot Bobby Reynolds.
However, two seeds fell at the second-round stage with Juan Monaco going down 7-5 6-0 to Marinko Matosevic and Jeremy Chardy succumbing 6-2 2-6 6-4 to Bjorn Phau.
There were also wins for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tommy Haas, Kei Nishikori, Carlos Berlocq, Sam Querrey and Grigor Dimitrov .
