Sawt Falasteen - Djokovic suvives scare to reach Indian Wells last 16

Djokovic, playing his first tournament since falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final, had all he could handle from the 27-year-old New Yorker, who peppered the Serb superstar with 16 aces.

"I knew coming into the match that if he serves well and if he picks his spot in the box it's going to be tough to break him," said Djokovic, who broke Kovacevic in the final game to snatch the win.

"That's what happened actually. He was serving extremely well (except) maybe one game in the first and maybe the last game of the third set -- he got a little bit tight, missed a few first serves.

"He got me into a position where I can win it and I seized it."

With five Indian Wells titles Djokovic is tied for the record with Swiss great Roger Federer.

But the Serbian superstar hasn't made it to the quarter-finals in the California desert since his last title run in 2016 and now he's had to come through a pair of three-setters to return to the last 16.

Djokovic took control with an early break in the opening set and made it hold up.

But Kovacevic was clearly warming up. He held at love in his last two service games of the opening set and rolled through the second against a clearly frustrated Djokovic.

Djokovic regrouped in the third, and despite a tumble in the eighth game found a way to win.

"That's what counts in the end, to get the 'W,'" said Djokovic, who will face either defending champion Jack Draper or Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz, riding a 13-0 match winning streak as he chases a third Indian Wells title, takes on France's Arthur Rinderknech under the lights on Stadium Court.

The 22-year-old Spaniard's Australian Open triumph made him the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam, and he followed up with a title in Doha in February.

Now Alcaraz is aiming to return to the winner's circle in Indian Wells, where his bid for a third straight title last year was derailed by Draper in the semi-finals.

H.Jarrar--SF-PST