Indian Wells, California , Mar 11 : Novak Djokovic opened his bid for a third BNP Paribas Open championship by beating qualifier Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday.
The top-ranked Djokovic, who beat Rafael Nadal in last year's final at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and also won in 2008, is 23-4 on the slow PlexiPave courts that he said favor his game and will face No. 29 seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the third round.
It is the second year in a row that Djokovic has beaten Golubev in the second round of this $11 million event.
Djokovic used a serve and high forehand volley to set up match point and a service winner to bring the 80-minute match to a conclusion.
Andy Murray, the No. 4 seed and a possible semifinal opponent for Djokovic, was scheduled to play the final match of the day against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
Isner, the No. 11 seed, earned a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Frederico Gil of Portugal, while fellow-American Roddick, who is at his lowest ranking (31) since August 2001, needed three sets to top Poland's Lukasz Kubot 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
It was a badly needed win for Roddick, who has struggled with injuries this season, and it came after what he called an hour and a half of playing so poorly "I couldn't have hit a return into the ocean from the beach."
"I don't feel like I'd stolen a match in a while and I did today. I got a (good bounce on a) let cord to break (for a 4-3 lead in the third set) and it felt fantastic. I wasn't sorry at all, even though I said I was."
The 29-year-old Roddick, who will meet No. 8 seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the third round, won the second-set tiebreaker with a forehand that appeared long, but went unchallenged. And he took control of the third set after Kubot needed a visit from an ATP Tour trainer for a back problem after holding serve for a 3-2 lead.
Berdych got by Sergly Stakhovsky of the Ukraine 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4.
Frenchman Gilles Simon moved into the third round after a three-set win over qualifier Dudi Sela of Israel, but No. 16 seed Richard Gasquet of France was beaten by Albert Ramos of Spain 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 after having match point in the second set.
American Robby Ginepri lost to Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the women's No. 15 seed, opened the day on Stadium Court with an easy 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Johanna Larsson of Sweden.
No. 6 Samantha Stosur of Australia, No. 10 Francesca Schiavone of Italy and No. 16 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia also advanced.
No. 11-seeded Sabiine Lisicki lost 6-1, 6-4 to Lourdes Dominguez-Lino of Spain.Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova played later in the day.
