TENNIS in DEPTH.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Germany’s Rainer Schuettler.

The third-seeded Spaniard will now meet Mario Ancic in the next round, with the unseeded Croatian having struggled past Frenchman Julien Benneteau 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic survived a disastrous second set to defeat Mardy Fish 6-1 0-6 6-2.

The World number two had five double faults before triumphing over the American – who is ranked 104 places below him – just as he did in the final two years ago.

Also going through was fifth seed Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Ernests Gulbis 6-4 6-4.

Fernando Verdasco, seeded 10th, cruised past Ramon Delgado 6-4 6-1, and will now face Tomas Berdych, who beat Florent Serra.

There were also victories for John Isner, Sam Querrey, Juan Monaco, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Brian Dabul, Ivan Ljubicic and Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Viktor Troicki advanced when Pablo Cuevas retired after just one game.

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Novak Djokovic outlasted big John Isner in five sets on Sunday to lift Serbia past the United States and into the 2010 Davis Cup quarterfinals.

The Serbs wound up with a 3-2 victory in the best-of-five showdown at Belgrade Arena.

The world No. 2 Djokovic got everything he could handle from the 6-foot-9 Isner in the first reverse singles rubber, as the former Australian Open champion barely snuck out a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6-9), 6-4 decision on the Americans’ least-favorite surface, red clay. The Djokovic win gave the hosts an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

“Isner fought like crazy, and his serve was unbelievable,” Djokovic said of the 20th-ranked American. “His serves are coming like from the fourth floor, and I had no idea where they would go.”

Djokovic needed six match points, but finally prevailed in 4 hours, 16 minutes against Isner, who made his Davis Cup debut with a singles loss against Viktor Troicki here on Friday and was a doubles winner on Saturday.

“Four hours is a lot of tennis, and I’m proud how I played,” Isner said after succumbing to Djokovic.

In Sunday’s dead rubber, Sam Querrey cruised past Troicki 7-5, 6-2.

The Serbs, who will appear in their first-ever Davis Cup quarterfinal, will battle Croatia in July.

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Serbia got itself off to a perfect start in its Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round tie against USA. Viktor Troicki withstood a creditable clay court challenge from John Isner to win 76(4) 67(5) 75 64 in three hours 36 minutes.

In the second tie Novak Djokovic won in 4 sets over Sam Querrey. The US team now has to win the doubles and both reverse singles to move on to the quarter final.

The Beogradska Arena was vibrating with the noise of cheer sticks and chanting from the home crowd as they carried Troicki to victory. The players had said all along that the crowd was going to play a very important role in getting them through this weekend and this was the first example of it.

Isner had an opportunity in the first set when he broke serve to lead 5-3 after Troicki sent a forehand cross court return out. The American served for the set only to be broken in the next game when Troicki powered a backhand down the line for a winner. In the tiebreak Troicki got a mini-break with the fifth point and eventually got the early upper hand with a service winner.

The match remained even throughout the second set. Neither player faced a break point, forcing a second consecutive tiebreak, which Isner clinched on his first set point. Troicki raced to a 3-1 lead in the third set and had four points for a double break and a 4-1 lead. However, he couldn’t convert and that allowed the American back in to the set.

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Novak Djokovic won the Barclays Dubai Championships final, defeating Mikhail Youzhny 7-5 5-7 6-3.

The defending champion, who led 7-5 2-0 on Saturday when rain forced the players off the court for a second time, was taken to a third set before seeing off his Russian opponent.

World number three Djokovic was far from his best but the Serbian – winner of the 2008 Australian Open – prevailed on a day when there were seven breaks of serve in 19 games.

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The final of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships between Novak Djokovic and Mikhail Youzhny will resume on Sunday after rain halted play.

Defending champion Djokovic was leading 7-5 2-0 when rain forced the players off the court for a second time on Saturday.

Play had initially been suspended in the first game of the second set and Djokovic just had time to hold serve and then break his Russian opponent before another downpour.

The Serbian had earlier taken a rollercoaster first set with his third break of serve, and fifth in total, as Youzhny served at 5-6 down.

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Novak Djokovic was again forced to battle from a set down to seal his place in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships at the expense of Marco Baghdatis.

In what has proved a tricky tournament for seeds, the world number three was on the brink of elimination in the second round against compatriot Viktor Troicki and again in the quarters against Ivan Ljubicic.

He was again once more in a tricky spot today when Baghdatis claimed the opening set of their semi-final.

But the Serbian hit back to seal a 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 6-4 win and a place in the final against Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny.

Djokovic struggled for rhythm in the opening set, serving five double faults, and was a break down in the second, but took control from there to progress.

Seventh seed Youzhny earlier beat Jurgen Melzer of Austria in two tough sets to book his final place.

The key moment came at 5-5 in the first set, when Melzer slipped to 0-40 on serve and, although he saved two break points, Youzhny converted at the third attempt.

He went on to take the second on a tie-break for a 7-5 7-6 (7/4) win.

“It was a tough match,” he said on www.atptour.com. “It was really close for both players.

“I think Jurgen played really well today. He was aggressive. He won a lot of good points. So for me it was really tough.”

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Defending champion Novak Djokovic rallied past Ivan Ljubicic 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 Thursday to advance at the Dubai Championships.

Djokovic was down a set and 4-4 against former finalist Ivan Ljubicic, who had 14 aces. But Djokovic won the next eight games and wil play Marcos Baghdatis in the semi final.

“After losing the first set comfortably, I tried to hold my serve,” Djokovic said. “I knew that at a certain point he’s going to miss (a) couple of first serves, and that was my chance. “

In the other semi final Jurgen Melzer will face seventh-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, who beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4.

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