Rafael Nadal restored order on a day of upsets with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 fourth-round victory over big-serving American John Isner at the BNP Paribas Open Wednesday, after Novak Djokovic and Elena Dementieva were ousted. Seeking his third title at Indian Wells, No. 3-seed Nadal withstood Isner's serve-and-volley game under the searing afternoon sun in front of a partisan crowd backing one of only two American men remaining. Nadal ended things with a forehand winner into the open court, prompting a loud yell from the defending champion who is back in action after a six-week injury layoff. “I am feeling really well, and I am feeling good on court,” said Nadal, playing his first tournament since the Australian Open, when he was hampered by knee injuries that also bothered him last summer. Nadal rested after his singles match, then went out and won his doubles quarterfinal with countryman Marc Lopez. “I can return more aggressive than the singles and I practice a little bit more the serve,” he said. “I play more relaxed. I feel my volley improves in the last three days, so that's the important thing.” Isner fired 22 aces and had just one double-fault in his first match against Nadal. Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals against 19th-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, a 6-1, 6-1 winner over No. 29 Viktor Troicki of Serbia. No. 7 Andy Roddick defeated 22nd-seeded Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (5), 6-4, improving to 10 matches without loss against the Austrian. He'll next face No. 18 Tommy Robredo of Spain, who outlasted the 27th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 0-6, 6-4. Andy Murray led Nicolas Almagro 6-2, 1-0 when the Spaniard retired with a left ankle injury. Murray will play sixth-seeded Robin Soderling, who defeated No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3, 6-4. No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki rallied to beat 18th-seeded Zheng Jie of China, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, for the first time in three meetings. Second-seeded Djokovic, the highest seeded men's player remaining and the 2008 winner, lost 7-5, 6-3 to No. 20 seed Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, a day after top-ranked Roger Federer dropped a third-set tiebreaker to Baghdatis after holding three match points. Sixth-seeded Robin Soderling defeated No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3, 6-4, and No. 18 Tommy Robredo outlasted the 27th-seeded Baghdatis 7-5, 0-6, 6-4. No. 4 Dementieva struggled with her footwork in a 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinal defeat to fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who has yet to drop a set in four matches. “If it's an important moment, I think I'm just little bit better,” Radwanska said. “That's why I'm winning in two sets.” Former winner Dementieva's loss cleared the way for a first-time women's champion to be crowned Sunday. Ljubicic hadn't beaten Djokovic since their first meeting in 2006, losing five in a row. But he believed the Serb was vulnerable because of his recent playing and travel schedule. Playing on the smaller Stadium Court 2, Djokovic held for 5-all in the first set. But Ljubicic won the next two games, breaking Djokovic to take the set 7-5. Ljubicic smashed 13 aces and had no double faults in the nearly 2-hour contest. “I was actually very surprised that we were scheduled on Stadium 2 because he's No. 2 in the world,” said Ljubicic, who practiced on the main stadium court Tuesday in anticipation of playing there. “I was happy when I found out we were going to play on Stadium 2, because I played a lot of matches on that court and I'm sure he didn't. It was maybe a little advantage on my side.” Djokovic's serve continued to let him down in the second set. He was broken to trail 4-3 before Ljubicic won two of the next three games to close out the win. Djokovic saved just one of seven break points against him in the match. Ljubicic moves on to a quarterfinal against No. 21 Juan Monaco of Argentina, who got by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Sharapova withdraws Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from next week's Sony Ericsson Open because of a bone bruise in her right elbow. The tournament announced Wednesday that second-ranked Dinara Safina and 2008 champion Nikolay Davydenko have also withdrawn. Sharapova withdrew after an MRI scan revealed the injury that is expected to sideline her three to six weeks. She last played at Key Biscayne in 2007. The 13
