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BNP Paribas Open: Second seed Novak Djokovic made to work hard

Novak Djokovic returns a shot to Victor Hanescu during the BNP Parabas Open in Indian Wells
Image: Novak Djokovic beat Victor Hanescu in straight sets

Novak Djokovic survived a few sticky moments on his way to an opening win over Victor Hanescu at the BNP Paribas Open.

Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray both lost the first sets of their opening matches in Indian Wells and Djokovic had to save two set points before pulling away to win 7-6 (7-1) 6-2.

The second seed, who next meets Alejandro Gonzalez, said: "It's one of those days where you get to serve well and everything else is just trying to find the way to play the right shots at the right time.

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"I didn't make any returns in the first set. Second set I also struggled with the return, which is one of my better shots in the game. It's the first match and it takes a little bit of time to get used to the centre court."

Twelfth seed John Isner ensured one American man reached the third round from 14 who started the tournament with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory over Nikolay Davydenko.

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's struggles continued as he fell 6-4 6-4 to French compatriot Julien Benneteau.

The third round will feature a third clash in a month between crowd pleasers Grigor Dimitrov and Ernests Gulbis, who are currently tied at one win apiece.

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Dimitrov, the No 15 seed, defeated Robin Haase 6-4 6-3, while 20th-ranked Gulbis eased past Joao Sousa 6-3 6-3. 

Tommy Robredo, ranked 16th, needed to dig deep to overcome Marinko Matosevic 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 6-4, while fellow Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez also reached the next round.

Verdasco edged out Horacio Zeballos 7-5 7-5, while Lopez saw off lucky loserJames Ward 3-6 6-2 6-4 – with the Briton failing to capitalise on his place in the competition following withdrawal of Juan Martin del Potro.

Seeds Gilles Simon, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Vasek Pospisil, Florian Mayer and Ivan Dodig all crashed out, though.

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