Andy Roddick beat fellow American James Blake 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Sunday.
Roddick's eighth win in 11 matches with Blake set up a third-round meeting with U.S. Davis Cup teammate John Isner, who opened the day with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory over Ricardo Mello of Brazil.
Three-time tournament champion Roger Federer overcame Igor Andreev 7-5, 7-6 (4).
Two-time women's champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium struggled but beat Italy's Sara Errani 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 and 2010 champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia ousted Julia Goerges 6-2, 6-4 to join Francesca Schiavone of Italy, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Marion Bartoli of France in the third round.
On the men's side, No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic also moved into the third round and Australian Open champion and No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic stayed perfect for the year (13-0) with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Andrey Golubev of Kazikstan in the opening match of the night session.
Djokovic will meet Ernests Gulbis and Federer will take on Juan Ignacio Chella in the third round.
Djokovic said the ball looks like ''a watermelon'' waiting to be hit these days.
''Confidence is crucial,'' he said. ''It's a very important thing to have, in this individual sport. If you're on the run, you don't want to mess up. You don't want to stumble. You just want to keep on going and hold the momentum. This is what I'm trying to do.''
Roddick rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second set by losing just two points and hitting 10 of his 13 aces in his final five service games. Isner had 12 aces and did not face a break point against Mello.
Roddick said he thought he performed acceptably, but ''it was tough to get a gauge on how I was playing because James was playing so aggressively. From the first game his strategy was — he didn't want to let me get a rhythm. I felt like he was coming out of his shoes (trying to hit winners). It was tough, but the numbers looked good afterward. I felt like I was hitting the ball okay, so it worked out.''
While Roddick is trying to maintain the form that has carried him to a 14-2 record and his 30th career title this year, Isner is trying to find a way to correct his inconsistencies. After winning three of his five matches in Australia, he lost in the first rounds at Memphis and Delray Beach, Fla., and split two matches in last weekend's Davis Cup victory over Chile.
''I haven't been playing that well,'' said Isner, who got out to a 4-1 lead and then had to battle both Mello and his own vagaries. ''Hitting the right shots at the right time has been sort of a struggle.
''Today I couldn't have started off any better. I'm up 4-1 and 15-40 (on Mello's serve) and then I didn't win that game. That's when my game went downhill a little bit. I was playing the right way and I didn't get that (break) and I don't really know what happened. I just stopped playing how I was playing in the first five games. It's something I'm always working on and need to do better at.''
Federer, who'll meet Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in the third round, is 4-0 lifetime against Andreev.
''I thought it was another tough match against him,'' said Federer, who is 15-2 this year. ''I felt always kind of in control in the first set, even though I was down, 5-4. I felt I was in the match quickly against him, which maybe in the past wasn't always the case because he's got a lot of spin and a lot of pace.
''I was able to handle that better today, I thought. I had a good 10 minutes where I was able to get up 7-5, 2-0, and after that he found his way into the match and it really became competitive. I played a really good tiebreak.''
In a late match, Milos Raonic of Canada ousted 13th-seeded American Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-4 despite needing treatment for a back problem during the match.
