Djokovic, Alcaraz battle on but fiery Andreeva's Indian Wells defence ends

INDIAN WELLS, California, March 9 - Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz were both made to work hard before reaching the fourth round of Indian Wells on Monday but defending women's champion Mirra Andreeva crashed out and let her frustrations boil over on court.

Third seed Djokovic overcame a second-set reverse to beat American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4 1-6 6-4 and reach the last 16 for the first time since 2017, setting up a clash with holder Jack Draper, who swept past Francisco Cerundolo 6-1 7-5.

The 24-times Grand Slam champion, who has claimed a record-equalling five titles at the Californian desert event, said he had been managing a forearm problem for the past two weeks.

"It's a bit odd: The more I serve, the better I feel, but it comes on and off if I get cold," Djokovic told Tennis Channel.

"If I don't serve for five or six minutes then I feel like the first couple of serves of that game are a bit painful. I'm working through it. It's not something I haven't faced before.

"I'm trying to manage my body and mental state on a daily basis so I can be peaking as much as I possibly can on a given day ... It's not going to get easier ... Draper is next and playing at a high level again, but I love the challenge."

Britain's Draper, playing his second event after an arm injury of his own, was in commanding form as he breezed through the opening set before enduring a stiff challenge from his Argentine opponent in the second.

Alcaraz was also tested by Arthur Rinderknech and faced the threat of losing his first match of the year after dropping the first set and his serve early in the second, but the world number one recovered to prevail 6-7(6) 6-3 6-2.

The Spaniard rolled his ankle midway through the contest but shrugged off the