INDIAN WELLS, California — Novak Djokovic opened his bid for a third straight BNP Paribas Open title Sunday night by surviving an unexpected challenge from American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
“All credit to Bjorn on playing a great match, but I wasn’t feeling comfortable at all on the court,” the top-ranked Djokovic said after extending his winning streak at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to 12 matches. “I was just trying to find a way, trying to hang in there and make it through.”
The 22-year-old Fratangelo was the French Open boys’ champion in 2011 and turned pro in 2012, but has been playing almost exclusively on the satellite tours. He’s ranked No. 149 and his first-round win Friday was his first in four matches on the ATP World Tour. He took a 4-0 lead in the opening set and kept the match interesting until Djokovic got back-to-back service breaks en route to winning the final five games.
Djokovic, who has a 17-1 record this season, took the court after top-ranked Serena Williams moved into the women’s fourth round with a ragged 7-6 (2), 6-0 victory over Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Later, fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
Simona Halep of Romania capped the night with a 64-minute 6-2, 6-4 win over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.
Nadal got a tenuous grip on the match when a backhand passing shot gave him a 30-0 lead with Muller serving in the final game, and Muller double-faulted to make it 40-0. Nadal gave two points back on errant forehands, then won it with a forehand return that handcuffed Muller as he moved to the net.
“He’s a very, very difficult player, especially in these conditions,” Nadal said of his left-handed opponent.
In the opening set, Serena showed the effects of a six-week layoff since losing the Australian Open final. The two-time tournament champion made 29 unforced errors and seemed completely out of a rhythm against Putintseva, who played aggressively and challenged every close line call.
“I was just trying to find my rhythm out there, trying my best to not get off to a slow start,” Serena said. “Then I got broken really early and I couldn’t manage to break back. I was just trying to fight out there and do what I could … Even though I won, I made some simple errors that just kept going for the first set.”
Serena was joined in the fourth round by No. 3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Monica Niculescu of Romania; eighth-seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, who won the final four games of the match to beat Johanna Larsson of Sweden, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5; and No. 19 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, who routed Coco Vandeweghe of the US 6-0, 6-1.
Men’s fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan got his tournament under way with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan; No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat countryman Vincent Millot; and No. 31 Sam Querrey of the US overcame Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands, 7-6 (5), 6-4. — AP
