World No. 3 Andy Murray punched his ticket to the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells Masters on Wednesday with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 victory over unseeded Argentinian Carlos Berlocq. Scotland's Murray, the reigning US Open champion and gold medallist at last year's London Olympics, next faces either seventh-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina or German veteran Tommy Haas. bb/gph

World No. 3 Andy Murray shook off some first-match nerves Sunday to post a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian Evgeny Donskoy in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters. Murray hadn't played in six weeks, since falling to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final. Weighing on him even more, however, was the memory of crashing out of his opening match here in each of the past two years. "I've struggled here the last couple of years," he said. "I haven't won a match. I was a little nervous."

Rafael Nadal will use the upcoming ATP event at Indian Wells to test his left knee on hardcourts with hopes he can return to the same competition schedule he enjoyed before his recent seven-month layoff. Since returning from his injury last month, Nadal has won 12 of 13 matches in a South American clay-court swing, finishing runner-up in Vina del Mar, Chile, before taking titles in Sao Paulo and at the Mexican Open. "Today I know I can play on clay. I will try next week on the hard," Nadal said. "Playing tennis will be a process to adapt my knee to the competition.

World number one Novak Djokovic extended his unbeaten run to 17 matches and put himself within one victory of regaining the Dubai Open title after an absorbing two-set tussle with former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro. The Serbian was again in remarkably fine fettle for a man who has not played a tournament since making a successful defence of the Australian title nearly five weeks ago and, after three solid wins already, raised his level once more in a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) success over the Argentine. Djokovic was made to do so.