Novak Djokovic launched his defense of the Indian Wells Masters series title with a straight-sets victory Sunday. Serbia's Djokovic, seeded third behind Rafael Nadal and world number two Roger Federer in the 5.4 million-dollar event, overcame 54th-ranked Argentinian Martin Vasallo Arguello 7-5, 6-4 to reach the third round. Fourth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva made it safely into the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic. In other early matches, last year's suprise men's finalist Mardy Fish, who shocked Federer in the semifinals in 2008, was beaten 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1) by France's Jeremy Chardy. Chardy next faces Spain's David Ferrer, runner-up to Djokovic in Dubai, who beat US qualifier Todd Widom 6-4, 7-5. Roger Federer took the first step toward another possible final against top-ranked Rafael Nadal by beating Frenchman Marc Gicquel 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the second round Saturday. Federer is the No. 2 seed in the 96-player field. Spaniard Nadal is No. 1. Those two could meet for the 20th time in the March 22 final. The No. 8 seed Gilles Simon of France struggled to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan, but the women's field lost No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, who was upset by 17-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-4. The loss continued an early season slump by Jankovic, who finished last year ranked No. 1, but changed her training routine during the offseason and said she lost mobility in the process. “My best weapon was my legs,” Jankovic said. “I always moved well and I had the anticipation and I was always on the ball. Now I just cannot do that. I'm one step too slow or one step too much into the shot, and then all the strokes break down and I don't have the timing and my accuracy is not there. Overall, everything is wrong. I need a lot of work.” American James Blake, the No. 13 seed, beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3, while 17th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile got past Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, reprising his win at the Australian Open. Reigning champion and No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia began her quest for a second straight title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus and men's No. 11 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia, 7-5, 6-3. No. 7 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Samantha Stosur of Australia, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, to join younger sister Urszula Radwanka in the third round. Urszula Radwanka, ranked No. 107 to her sister's No. 10, provided an upset the previous day by beating No. 6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
