In Pictures: Indian Wells

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning a point during the first set tie breaker against Ryan Harrison of the U.S. during their match at the BNP Paribas Open ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California

"Any victory is important for me because that gives me the chance to play another day. That(***)s what I need, to play matches. I need to compete," he said.

Roger Federer of Switzerland tosses his towel to a ball boy as he gets balls from him to serve against Denis Istomin of during their match at the BNP Paribas Open ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California

Second round: Old foe and defending champion Roger Federer cruised into the third round with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Uzbekistan(***)s Denis Istomin.

Second round: But Spaniard David Ferrer became the first major casualty of the tournament, beaten 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 by 37th-ranked South African Kevin Anderson.

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reacts after losing a point against Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia during their match at the BNP Paribas Open WTA tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California

Second round: Women(***)s top seed and defending champion Victoria Azarenka survived a shaky start to make it safely into the third round with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over two-time former champion Daniela Hantuchova.

Djokovic of Serbia celebrates breaking the serve of Fognini of Italy during the third set of their match at the BNP Paribas Open ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California

Second round: World number one and competition favourite Novak Djokovic booked his place in the third round but had to battle for it. The Serbian beat Italian Fabio Fognini 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 and admitted it was a difficult challenge and he made too many errors

Second round: Third seed Andy Murray also faced a challenge in his second round match against Russian Evgeny Donskoy. The U.S. Open champion was in rusty form during his first tournament on the ATP circuit for six weeks but came through with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win

Third round: Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki celebrates a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Elena Vesnina. Also advancing to the fourth round were Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Sam Stosur.

Third round: Tomas Berdych (pictured) continued his strong form with a two set victory over German Florian Mayer. Spaniard Rafael Nadal also advanced with the a walkover over Leonardo Mayer who suffered a back problem. A game off is likely to be just what Nadal wanted as he is still recovering from serious injury.

Maria Sharapova of Russia returns a shot to Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino of Spain as spectators watch from a tunnel leading to the stadium during their match at the BNP Paribas Open WTA tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California

Fourth round: Maria Sharapova became the first top seed to gain entry into the quarter-finals. The Russian advanced with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Lara Arrubarrena-Vecino of Spain.

Third round: Eighth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga used his brawn to knock out American Mardy Fish and gain a place in the fourth round. He triumphed after two tie breakers and joins Brit Andy Murray who defeated Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan.

Djokovic of Serbia serves to Dimitrov of Bulgaria at the BNP Paribas Open ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California

Third round: Novak Djokovic (pictured) knocked Martin Del Potro out of the Dubai Open in the semis but both players are through to the fourth round in California. Del Potro defeated German Bjorn Phau and Djokovic got the better of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.

Maria Sharapova of Russia serves against Sara Errani of Italy during their women''s singles quarterfinal match at the BNP Paribas Open WTA tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California

Fourth round: Maria Sharapova defeated sixth-seeded Sara Errani 7-6 (6), 6-2 to reach the women(***)s semi-finals without dropping a set. Next up is 13th-seeded Maria Kirilenko, who beat No. 5 Petra Kvitova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning a point against Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in Indian Wells, California

Fourth round: Rafael Nadal ended the run of Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory that set up a quarter-final against defending champion Roger Federer. Federer survived a three-set marathon of his own to beat 18th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka.

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus talks about withdrawing from the tournament due to a right ankle injury before her quarterfinal match against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at the BNP Paribas Open WTA tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California

Quarter-finals: The last eight saw two withdrawals from the women(***)s competition. Australian Sam Stosur conceded to Angelique Kerber with a calf problem and top seed Victoria Azarenka dropped out due to a right ankle injury. That put Denmark(***)s Caroline Wozniacki through to the semis.

Federer of Switzerland and Nadal of Spain greet each other at the net after Nadal defeated Federer in their men''s singles quarterfinal match at the BNP Paribas Open ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells

Quarter-finals: Watch out for Rafa Indian Wells! Nadal confirmed he was back to his wicked winning ways with victory over Switzerland(***)s Roger Federer. And it was pretty easy for the Spaniard who won 6-4, 6-2. Nadal faces Tomas Berdych is the last four.