Federer, Nadal set to play separate matches at BNP Paribas Open

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are scheduled to play unseeded opponents Monday as men’s third-round singles play begins in the BNP Paribas Open, while the women’s top-seed, Victoria Azarenka, will play a night match.

Federer, the defending champion who is seeded second and second in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings, will face Ivan Dodig in the fourth match of the day on the Indian Wells Tennis Garden’s main court.

This will be the first match between Federer and Dodig, who is ranked 60th and upset 28th-seeded Julien Benneteau of France in the second round.

Nadal, who is seeded and ranked fifth, will face Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in the second match on the main court. Mayer is 0-11 lifetime against Top 10 players.

A third man who also once held the world’s No. 1 ranking is also scheduled to play today — Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who will face 18th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, in the second night match, which won’t begin before 8:30 p.m.

The night session is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. with Azarenka facing 28th-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.

In Sunday’s play, Novak Djokovic, the world’s top-ranked men’s player, and 2012 U.S Open champion Andy Murray both dropped a set but were among the winners as men’s second-round singles play concluded.

Djokovic defeated Fabio Fognini of Italy, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2, for his 14th consecutive victory this year and 19th in a row dating back to 2012.

Djokovic led 4-1 in the second set, then Fognini won six of the next seven games to win the set and tie the match.

“I had a very bad game at 4-2, couple of unforced errors, got him back in the match,” Djokovic said. “Next thing you know, we’re one set all and a couple of tight games.

“But look, I’m not concerned. I know I have been in this situation before where I had minor setbacks in a match, especially in the opening matches where I’m trying to get used to the court, the conditions and so forth.”

Djokovic called Fognini “a good player on this surface.”

“He loves playing on slow surfaces,” Djokovic said. “He made me work. He made me earn my points. In the end, I have done what I needed to do. The W is there, so I feel good about myself.”

Djokovic has won all four of his matches against Fognini, who is ranked 36th.

Murray, who is ranked third, defeated Evgeny Donskoy, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, breaking the Russian’s serve twice in both the second and third sets.

“One I got into more of a rhythm, I was able to dictate more of the points,” Murray said. “But he played some good stuff. He doesn’t force anything. I think he’s pretty smart on the court too.”

Other winners included seventh-seeded Juan Martin Del Porto, eighth- seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 11th-seeded Nicolas Almagro, 12th-seeded Marin Cilic and 32nd-seeded Mardy Fish, who was playing in his first singles match after being sidelined since the U.S. Open because of a heart condition.

“It’s been a tough few months for sure,” Fish said after defeating Bobby Reynolds, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, winning the final four games.

“You sort of feel like it was a win just to get back out there. There are a lot of pole that have sort of dealt with what I’ve dealt with and not come back. It’s nice to just play, first and foremost, and then you get out there and you want to win.”

The highest-seeded player to lose was 14th-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina, who fell to the unseeded Australian Marinko Matosevic, 7-5, 6-0.

All the seeded players were playing their first singles matches of the tournament after receiving first-round byes.

The women began their third round of singles play with each of the four top seeded players in action winning — second-seeded Maria Sharapova, third- seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova and sixth-seeded Sara Errani.

Sharapova trailed 25th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, 5-4 in the first set and 3-2 in the second, before completing the 7-5, 6-3 victory.

“I thought it was a tough one,” Sharapova said. “She’s a quality player, capable of playing some really good tennis. She’s dangerous.

“She’s beaten top players in Grand Slams before and has a really solid game with a lot of variety and she can hit the ball as well. She’s really tough.”