Indian Wells: Roger Federer, a four-times winner of the ATP Masters 1000 event, had minor back problems of his own but progressed with a commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory over Croatia's Ivan Dodig in a contest lasting just 61 minutes.
Federer tweaked his back during the latter stages of his match against Dodig, but with a rest day on Tuesday he was not worried that it could affect his last 16 match on Wednesday. "It's not the first time it's happened in my career, so, I know how to deal with it," said the world number two.
Federer will next meet compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka or Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who play later on Monday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. "I'm walking fine, I have a day off tomorrow. Everything is all right," added Federer. "It's happened during grand slams, during tournaments, in practice. It's just something you learn to deal with. And as long as I keep on playing, it's all right. I also know I have a longer break to recover so, from that standpoint, I'm not worried at all."
Second-seeded Federer, the defending champion at Indian Wells, improved his win-loss record this year to 12-3 after overcoming Dodig in their first meeting. Dodig gave the Swiss a tough challenge early on and the opening set went with serve until the eighth game when the Croatian made two consecutive double faults to be broken. Federer then needed four set points to serve out, finally clinching the set in 34 minutes with a service winner that left his opponent floundering.
The Swiss maestro then took firm control, breaking Dodig in the first game, when the Croatian netted a backhand, and also in the third, when his opponent again double faulted. Federer sealed victory by breaking Dodig for a third time, the match ending on yet another double by the 60th-ranked Croatian.
In other matches, sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych eased past Germany's Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-1 while 10th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet swept aside Poland's Jerzy Janowicz 6-1, 6-4.
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