Novak Djokovic remained on course for his first title of the season with a second round victory over Victor Hanescu 7-6 6-2 at the BNP Paribas Open.

Djokovic, the second ranked player in the world, is off to a slow 2014 and has only defeats at the Australian Open and the Dubai Duty Free Championship to show for thus far.

He failed to reach the final in either event, but does bring positive vibes to Indian Wells, California, where he is a two-time champion.

Facing the Romanian Hanescu, Djokovic fended off five break points during the competitive opening set before dominating the tiebreaker and taking complete control from there.

“I didn’t make any returns in the first set. In the second set I also struggled with the return, which is one of my better sides in the game generally speaking,” Djokovic said.

Djokovic will next face Alejandro Gonzalez who made the third round by defeating Ivan Dodig 6-4 2-6 7-6.

Elsewhere, a couple of high seeds were sent home packing early.

Fourth seed Tomas Berdych was upset by Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 4-6 6-2 6-4.

Sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro withdrew because of a left wrist injury that had also forced him out of the Dubai tourney last week.

Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France, also bowed out in a 6-4 6-4 loss to fellow countryman Julien Benneteau.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.