Second seed Djokovic had to work hard before winning

Second seed Novak Djokovic had to save three match points before beating Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

The 2008 champion saved the first with a forehand volley winner before two errors by the German in Indian Wells.

The Serb rode his luck to eventually triumph 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-3).

There were no problems for defending champion Rafael Nadal on his return from injury after he beat Mario Ancic 6-2 6-2 to advance.

Djokovic trailed 0-40 on his serve in the 10th game of the decider but a forehand volley winner saved the first match point, then Kohlschreiber wasted two consecutive backhands to make it deuce.

Djokovic's ace and a subsequent double-fault led to a second deuce before two straight errors by the German tied the set at 5-all.

Kohlschreiber held to go 6-5 up but Djokovic served a love game to force the tie-breaker and once the Serb led 4-0 there was no way back for the German as he closed out the victory with a forehand.

Elsewhere, Argentina's Juan Monaco advanced after 7-6 3-6 6-3 win over 11th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero.

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