Indian Wells Tennis 2016: Wednesday Scores, Results, Updated Schedule

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were each successful Wednesday at Indian Wells. They just went about it in wildly different ways.

Djokovic moved on to the quarterfinals with a breezy, straight-sets triumph over Feliciano Lopez. Nadal, meanwhile, needed every inch of guile in his system to overtake unseeded 18-year-old Alexander Zverev.

For Djokovic, it was an important return to form after some strangely poor play early in the tournament. He needed three sets to take down Bjorn Fratangelo in the second round and played a hotly contested 7-5, 7-5 match with Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third.

Here, though, Djokovic looked every bit like the best player in the world. He finished off Lopez in just under one hour and six minutes, never once facing a break and dominating the Spaniard on his second serves. Lopez acquitted himself well on first-serve tries. He aced five shots and won 78 percent of those tries overall.

Result	Result
(4) Rafael Nadal def. Alexander Zverev	6-7 (8), 6-0, 7-5
(1) Novak Djokovic def. (18) Feliciano Lopez	6-3, 6-3
(12) Milos Raonic def. (6) Tomas Berdych	6-4, 7-6 (7)
(13) Gael Monfils def. Federico Delbonis	6-3, 6-4
(5) Kei Nishikori def. (9) John Isner	1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5)
(10) Marin Cilic def. (8) Richard Gasquet	7-5, 5-7, 6-2
(15) David Goffin def. (3) Stan Wawrinka	6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5)
(7) Jo Wilfried Tsonga def. (11) Dominic Thiem	6-3, 6-2

Result	Score
(3) Agnieszka Radwanska def. (8) Petra Kvitova	6-2, 7-6 (3)
(1) Serena Williams def. (5) Simona Halep	6-4, 6-3

Updated event schedule available via the event's official website.

Unfortunately, his accuracy was not always on point and Djokovic took advantage of second-serve chances. Nole took 15 of Lopez's 27 second-serve points, helping him to three breaks that ultimately decided the match. It was a much-needed efficient evening as he looks for his fifth championship at Indian Wells.

Nadal needed more than two-and-a-half hours to take down Zverev, who is quickly emerging as one of the most promising young players on the planet. A day after taking down Grigor Dimitrov, Zverev gave Nadal everything he could handle.

The 6'6" German played a wildly aggressive match, blasting nine aces but also posting 11 double-faults. Nadal, ever the veteran presence, tried to stay collected throughout and force the young Zverev into mistakes. The plan worked, as Nadal overcame a tough tiebreak 10-8 loss in the first set to bagel Zverev in the second before putting him away 7-5 in a thrilling third set.

Nadal trailed 5-2 at one point before winning the final five games of the match. Zverev even had match point at 5-3 but squandered his opportunity to put it away, hitting a volley into the net.

“I did well (to get match point), but on match point I sucked, so that was it,” Zverev said, per Fox Sports. “I missed probably the easiest shot I had the whole match. That’s what happened.”

Former tennis great Andy Roddick is nonetheless enthused by Zverev's performance:

While Nadal was able to avoid the upset, the same cannot be said for a few others in the field. Belgian David Goffin was able to eliminate third-seeded Stan Wawrinka in a three-set thriller, while 12th-seeded Milos Raonic overcame sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych in straight sets. Seemingly reaching his prime as he closes toward his 26th birthday, Goffin already has a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open under his belt and seemed pleased with his performance.

“It was the best win of my career, for sure,” Goffin told Tennis Channel, per Fox Sports. “I had some problems with my serve, a little bit with my toss. It was tough with the heat and the sun to control the ball.”

Goffin also got to meet with legend Rod Laver after the match:

In another minor upset, 10th-seeded Marin Cilic took down eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet in three sets. Kei Nishikori and John Isner also played a three-set thriller, with Nishikori coming out ahead in a captivating 7-5 tiebreak. The match was one of the real highlights of the tournament so far, as Nishikori needed tiebreaks in both the second and third set to stay alive.

On the women's side, things went entirely to chalk. Top seed Serena Williams and third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska earned straight-sets victories to set up a collision course in the semifinals. Williams barely even blinked in a 6-4, 6-3 win over Simona Halep, and Radwanska overcame one tiebreak to take down Petra Kvitova.

Williams has not lost a single set at Indian Wells and has lost more than four games in a set just once. Suffice it to say her one-hour, eight-minute takedown of Halep is sending a message to the rest of the field.