Novak Djokovic continued his domination over Kevin Anderson, rol-ling over the South African 6-2, 6-3 in the third round of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells tournament.

Top seed Djokovic has now beaten Anderson four straight times, including three matches in 2011. After winning the Australian Open, defending champion Djoko-vic is now 12-1 for 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, 6-4.

Djokovic had five aces, was a perfect three-for-three on break points saved and won 67 per cent of his first-serve points.

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 number one was the biggest win of his career.

“Especially in America, to beat the top player here is, it’s an incredible feeling,” Ebden said.

Ebden took his chance at 4-4 in the second set when the umpire called a hindrance penalty against Fish, who had called out a “Come on” before the ball was dead.

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

Ebden, ranked 91st in the world, will next face another American, John Isner, who beat Juan Monaco, of Argentina, 7-5, 7-5.

It was a mixed day for the Aussies.

Playing for the first time since their epic match at the US Open last year, Nadia Petrova outlasted Samantha Stosur in another three-set marathon.

This time, Petrova won on the third match point but she needed two hours, 46 minutes to defeat the Aussie 6-1, 6-7, 7-6.

In other third round matches, Maria Sharapova beat Romania’s Simona Halep 6-3, 6-4 and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki outlasted Sofia Arvidsson 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the night match.

Marion Bartoli eliminated Cha-nelle Scheepers 6-2, 6-0 and Lucie Safarova advanced when Francesca Schiavone retired after the first set with a virus.