World number one Novak Djokovic broke his opponent late in both sets to eke out a 7-5 7-5 third round victory over an upset-minded Philipp Kohlschreiber as the Serb continued his BNP Paribas Open title defence in California.
One day after world number two Andy Murray was surprisingly knocked out of competition, Djokovic had no such letdown despite suffering a bit of a wobble towards the end of the match.
Djokovic broke serve to lead 4-2 in the second set and squandered four match points in the ninth game before handing back the break to the German world number 30.
The next two games went with serve with Djokovic ensuring the contest would not go to a deciding set when he sealed victory on his fifth match point in breaking his opponent for the fourth time in the match to advance to the round of 16.
He next plays Spaniard Feliciano Lopez for a place in the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal gained a modicum of revenge over his Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco with a 6-0 7-6 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.
Nadal next faces 18-year-old German prospect Alexandr Zverev, who the Spaniard believes is “a possible future number one”.
Yesterday, the power-hitting Zverev confirmed his potential by breezing past Gilles Simon of France 6-2 6-2 in just 67 minutes.
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 Nis-hikori reached the round of 16 with a 7-6 7-6 win over American Steve Johnson as France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took down Sam Querrey 6-3 6-4.
Meanwhile, Serena Williams sent down seven aces on her way to a comprehensive 6-2 6-2 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko at the Indian Wells Open, setting up a mouth-watering quarter-final against defending champion Simona Halep.
“It’ll be a really good match I think for both of us to kind of see where we want to be at this point in the year,” top seed Williams told reporters of the showdown against the Romanian.
“I really like her game. I like how she’s aggressive. She’s a fighter. I definitely have to be ready.”
The American world number one, a 21-time grand slam champion, is looking for her first title at Indian Wells since 2001.
Halep moved a step closer to repeating last year’s triumph after her opponent Barbora Strycova retired with the world number five leading 6-3 1-0.
The Romanian has only defeated Williams once in her career, a 6-0 6-2 thrashing in the group stages of the 2014 WTA Finals that the American avenged in an equally as one-sided final.