Tsonga holds off Fish to advance at Indian Wells

Eighth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga held off American Mardy Fish 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/0) on Tuesday to reach the round of 16 at Indian Wells. Tsonga booked a date with big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, the 17th seed, who rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Croatian Marin Cilic. Tsonga and Fish exchanged a total of six service breaks in the second set, Fish surging to a 4-0 lead with two breaks of serve before Tsonga won four straight games to level the set at 4-4. The deciding tiebreaker, however, was all Tsonga as he improved to 4-0 against the American. World No.1 Novak Djokovic led the 12 men's seeds in third-round action on Tuesday, taking on Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Djokovic is unbeaten this year and has a 19-match winning streak dating back to October 31. His triumphs this year include a fourth Australian Open title and an ATP victory at Dubai. He beat Dimitrov, ranked 31st in the world and, at 21, the youngest player left in the men's draw, in their only prior encounter at Shanghai last season. World No. 3 and reigning US Open champion Andy Murray, playing his first tournament since losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open final in January, was due to take on Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun. Lu stunned Murray in the first round at the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- a disappointment Murray made up for with his gold medal performance before adoring British fans at the London Games last year. All of the top 10 women's seeds were among the 16 players fighting for quarter-final berths, led by top seed and defending champion Victoria Azarenka and second-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova. Azarenka was due to take on Urszula Radwanska, less than 24 hours after coming through for a three-set victory over Belgian Kirsten Flipkens on Monday night. Sharapova took on Spain's Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, ranked 87th in the world. From: AFP