INDIAN WELLS, California – Despite tweaking his back, Switzerland’s defending champ Roger Federer beat Ivan Dodig of Croatia in a third-round match at the BNP Paribas Open on Monday.
Victoria Azarenka, the defending women’s champion, needed three sets to move on.
Federer earned his 890th career ATP Tour victory, joining Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Guillermo Vilas as the only men to have won at least that many matches in the Open era.
The second-ranked Federer is seeking his first tournament title of the year at an event where he has won four championships and has a 41-8 career record.
Federer was the highest-seeded men’s player in action Monday. He has Tuesday off to give his back a rest.
“I’m not too worried. I have gone through it so many times where you feel a little tweak,” he said.
“Happened during Grand Slams, during tournaments, in practice. It’s just something you learn to deal with.” – AP
