Juan Martin Del Potro continued his dominance over David Ferrer to book a spot in the Indian Wells fourth round as second seed Marin Cilic suffered a shock loss.
World No 8 Del Potro extended his win streak over the Spaniard to five straight matches, winning 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) at the ATP Tour hardcourt tournament here Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Del Potro improved to 7-6 overall against Ferrer and his five consecutive victories date back to the 2013 Wimbledon quarter-finals.
"We always play tough matches. I got lucky," said Del Potro. "I played really well in the tiebreak and served well in the important moments." Del Potro will next face fellow Argentinian leonardo Mayer, who defeated Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel 6-4, 6-1.
Del Potro is playing some of his best tennis in years as he improved to 13-3 on the season. In January he returned the top 10 for the first time since 2014.
Halep & Venus into q/f
World No 1 Simona Halep and Venus Williams punched their tickets to the Indian Wells quarter-finals, while Caroline Wozniacki suffered another exit at the hands of Russia's rising star Daria Kasatkina.
Halep breezed through her fourth round match with a 7-5, 6-1 win over China's Wang Qiang and eighth seed Venus Williams faced a stern test from Anastasija Sevastova but held on for a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 victory.
The 20-year-old Kasatkina, who has beaten all four reigning Grand Slam champions in the past year, continued her giant-killing form with a 6-4, 7-5 shock victory over world No. 2 Wozniacki.
Kasatkina recorded her second straight win over Wozniacki, having also beaten the Australian Open champ at the St. Petersburg tournament last month.
"I'm playing my best matches against the best players," she said. "But if you want to be on the top, you have to beat the top players. So quite a simple rule."