California: World No.1 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 on Tuesday as the Serb continued his BNP Paribas Open title defence in Indian Wells.
One day after World No.2 Andy Murray was surprisingly knocked out of the 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 No.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 by 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 quarterfinals.
Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal gained a modicum of revenge over Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco with a 6-0 7-6(9) 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.
"I feel lucky to win the tie-break but at the same time, I played well with not many mistakes as I went for the points," said Nadal, who is looking for his fourth title at Indian Wells.
"I lost matches similar to this one in Australia, in Buenos Aires and in Rio de Janeiro, so it's important for me to win matches like this."
Nadal next faces 18-year-old German prospect Alexandr Zverev, who the Spaniard believes is "a possible future number one". The power-hitting Zverev confirmed his potential by breezing past 16th-seeded Gilles Simon of France 6-2 6-2 in just 67 minutes.
"I thought I played really well today," said Zverev. "I was really ready for a long, long fight and a long three-set match... I'm really happy that I got through so quickly."
Zverev is bidding to become the youngest quarterfinalist at the event since 1989 and to reach his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarterfinal in just his fifth tournament at this level.
Earlier, Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori reached the round of 16 with a 7-6(6) 7-6(5) win over American Steve Johnson.
Nishikori, chasing his second ATP World Tour title of the season after victory in Memphis last month, will next face big-serving American ninth seed John Isner, who fired 15 aces in his 6-4 7-6(4) win over France's Adrian Mannarino.
France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took down American Sam Querrey 6-3 6-4.
Serena sets up Halep showdown
Serena Williams sent down seven aces on her way to a comprehensive 6-2 6-2 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko at the BNP Paribas Open, setting up a mouth-watering quarterfinal 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 in California.
"I really like her game. I like how she's aggressive. She's a fighter. I definitely have to be ready."
The American World No.1, 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 No.5 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.
The pair were due to meet in the semifinal of this tournament a year ago but Williams was forced to withdraw ahead of the contest through a knee injury.
"I know that it's gonna be tough to win, but still, I have my chance," Halep said.
"I feel that I have the game to play against her. We will see tomorrow. She's number one in the world."
In earlier women's action, Polish third seed Agnieska Radwanska beat Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals, where she will face World No.9 Petra Kvitova.
Radwanska, who was a runner-up in the event two years ago, broke last year's losing finalist six times in an error-strewn contest in which both players struggled on serve.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova ended the fairytale run of American qualifier Nicole Gibbs, rallying for a 4-6 6-3 6-4 win to book her spot in the quarters.
Kvitova imposed her left-handed power to overcome Gibbs, swatting 27 winners to 11 for the American and claiming 18-of-25 points at net to prevail.
"It's always tough coming back after losing the first (set)," said the Czech, who has needed three sets in each of her three victories. "We both played really well in the third set so I was happy to get the win."
Italian ninth seed Roberta Vinci retired from her match against unseeded Magdalena Rybarikova while trailing 2-6 0-2.
Victoria Azarenka, Timea Bacsinszky and Karolina Pliskova were also winners.
(with agency inputs)