Jack Draper will continue his Indian Wells title defence against Novak Djokovic after an impressive win on Monday – while Cameron Norrie claimed a major third-round scalp.
British number one Draper beat Argentina’s world number 20 Francisco Cerundolo 6-1 7-5 to set up a last-16 meeting with 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic.
Djokovic, the world number three, overcame American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4 1-6 6-4 to keep his own campaign going.
British number two Norrie also reached the fourth round by upsetting the sixth seed, Australia’s Alex de Minaur, 6-4 6-4.
World number 14 Draper produced a more commanding performance against Cerundolo than he delivered during his second-round win over Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.
The 24-year-old, playing just his second singles event since last year’s US Open after recovering from an arm injury, claimed the first set inside 32 minutes after breaking Cerundolo three times.
Cerundolo provided a sterner test in the second set as he broke Draper’s serve in the opening game.
A further break meant Cerundolo had the chance to serve for the set at 5-4 up, but Draper resisted and took the next three games to clinch victory on his first match point.
The victories for Norrie and Draper came a day on from fellow Briton Emma Raducanu being well beaten by American Amanda Anisimova, winning only two games and being ousted in 52 minutes.
Norrie is the 27th seed in the men’s draw but played above that status as he earned three breaks en route to victory over De Minaur. His next opponent will be Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata, who beat Kazakhstan’s 10th seed Alexander Bublik in three sets.
