Federer marches into Indian Wells fourth round

INDIAN WELLS, California: Roger Federer made quick work of Ivan Dodig on Monday, keeping his Indian Wells title defence on track with a 6-3, 6-1 third-round victory over the 60th-ranked Croatian.

Federer needed just 61 minutes to seal the victory -- abetted somewhat by Dodig's six double-faults, the last of which came on match point.

Federer, will face compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka for a quarter-final berth.

Wawrinka ended the challenge of Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 7-5.

While Federer downplayed his back trouble, Leonardo Mayer's back injury was bad enough to have the Argentine pulling out of his scheduled third-round match against Rafael Nadal, sending the fifth-seeded Spaniard into the round of 16 by a walkover

That meant Nadal had a chance to rest his troublesome left knee, but cost him more of the match experience he says he needs as he continues his comeback from a seven-month injury layoff.

The former world No. 1, currently ranked fifth, returned in February, reaching one final and winning two titles in three clay-court tournaments in Latin America.

This is his first hard-court tournament since injury forced him out of the Miami Masters last March. Nadal remained on course for a possible quarter-final showdown with Federer. But first he faces a potentially tough fourth-round clash with red-hot Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who defeated 20th-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Gulbis became the first qualifier to win a title this season in Delray Beach and he came through qualifying here as well. Including those qualifiers, he has won 13 competitive matches in 17 days.

The Latvian was looking forward to another crack at Nadal, who has beaten him in four prior encounters. (AFP)