The BIG FOUR of tennis, defending champion Novak Djokovic, arch-rivals Roger Federer and Rafel Nadal and the Scotsman Andy Murray all recorded straight sets win on Day 7 of the Indian Wells ATP 1000 by BNP Paribas as they entered the quarter-final on Wednesday. They have been joined by the Canadian Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, Australian Bernard Tomic and Spanish left hander Feliciano Lopez.

The quarter-final line up with my picks mentioned first is as under :-

Novak Djokovic (1) v. Bernard Tomic (32)
Andy Murray (4) v. Feliciano Lopez (12)
Rafael Nadal (3) v. Milos Raonic (6)
Roger Federer (2) v. Tomas Berdych (9)

Roger Federer recorded his 50th win at Indian Wells at the expense of the. American Jack Sock, while Rafael Nadal showed improved form against the stylish Frenchman Gilles Simon. In the last match of the Day 7 played under lights Djokovic ended all American hopes as he defeated John Isner while Andy Murray equalled Tim Henman’s tally of 496 career wins. A win against the Spaniard Lopez would make him the most succesful (in terms of number of matches won) British player in the Open Era since 1968.

The only upset of the day was the defeat of the fifth seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan who was making is his first appearance in the last sixteen here, Lopez won in straight sets. The Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo was less fortunate as he could not withstand the barrage of the big serving Milos Raonic of Canada. The remaining two matches involved players from the same country on either side of the court and both went the distance as Australian Bernard Tomic beat the teenager Thanassi Kokkinakis and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic brushed aside Lucas Rosol.

– Rasesh Mehta [Rasesh Mehta is an analyst with the Tennis Galaxy.You can reach him at the email: sportzcosmos@gmail.com]