Indian Wells update

Roger Federer outlasted hard-serving Milos Raonic 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4 in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday night, extending his run of winning 35 of 37 matches since last year s U.S. Open. Rafael Nadal didn t have as much trouble in beating fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-1, 6-4. It was similarly easy on the women s side for top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and No. 2-seeded Maria Sharapova, who won their matches in little more than an hour to reach the quarterfinals. Ana Ivanovic defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-2 in a matchup of former Indian Wells champions and former top-ranked players. Ivanovic held at love to complete her biggest win over a top player in months. Raonic came into his first match against Federer having won 16 of his previous 18 matches this year, but he fell to 0-7 against top-eight players with the loss. "I thought before the match I had a chance to win this," he said. "I did a few things well in the first set, and after that he just picked it up on the return. I don t think I served as well after, either." Federer broke to open the second set and broke again in the seventh game to level the match. In the third, he broke Raonic to go up 4-3. Raonic held at love before Federer won four straight points to close out his 73rd consecutive winagainst players outside the top 20. "I was getting to the ball often in the beginning, but just not making the plays," Federer said. "I was able to improve, and once I got that going maybe his serving also just dropped a tiny bit and gave me more opportunities on his second serves. That was a big second set for me to get momentum, particularly the first break of the second set." Federer hasn t been feeling well since he arrived, blaming sickness among his family rather than the viral illness that has knocked eight players out of the tournament. "Slow improvements," he said. "I m still not 100 percent." No. 2-ranked Nadal has won his past 10 matches against Spaniards. "I didn t play my best in the second," he said. "I had a few mistakes, especially for the backhand. But I am happy that I finished the match well." Nadal plays No. 21 Alexandr Dolgopolov in the quarterfinals. On the men s side, No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced but fifth-seeded David Ferrer lost for just the second time this year, 6-4, 6-3 to Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. Ferrer had already won three titles this season, and was seeking his 20th match win. Istomin set himself up for a fourth-round match against No. 9 Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 7-6 (6). Verdasco failed to convert on six break points in the match. David Nalbandian defeated 10th-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, while Thomaz Bellucci advanced when Nikolay Davydenko withdrew because of illness. Azarenka, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Julia Goerges, moved on to play fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who advanced when American wild card Jamie Hampton retired with cramping in the third set while trailing 3-6, 6-4, 3-0. Azarenka (20-0) and Radwanska (20-3) have the most match wins this year on the WTA Tour. Sharapova, who lost to Azarenka in a lopsided Australian Open final, beat Roberta Vinci 6-2, 6-1, and next plays an all-Russian quarterfinal against 20th-seeded Maria Kirilenko, who beat No. 30 Nadia Petrova 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. Azarenka next will try to equal Serena Williams  consecutive victories streak of 21-0 to begin 2003. "If I relax my butt a little bit, somebody s going to come and kick it," she said, laughing. Azarenka, who has won two other titles this year, is 3-0 against Radwanska this year, with two of their matches going to three sets. "She s someone who always comes up with something different," Azarenka said. "She s a little magician, if you can call it that." Other winners Tuesday included No. 7 Marion Bartoli; No. 8 Li Na; and 18th-seeded Angelique Kerber, who beat American Christina McHale in a third-set tiebreaker.