American Mardy Fish convincingly defeated World No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko on Tuesday in Indian Wells to secure his place in the fourth round at the Pacific Life Open. He joins close friend James Blake as the last two Americans standing in the men’s singles draw of the 11 that began the tournament.

Fish won four of his five break points chances during the 75-minute match en route to the 6-3, 6-2 triumph, snapping his eight-matching losing streak against Top 10 opponents in the process.

He said: “If I stay aggressive and I stay on top of my game plan and play well at the same time, I feel like I can really play well and beat some great players.”

The 26-year-old has reached the fourth round at this event once previously, in 2004 when he lost to Roger Federer. He will attempt to reach the quarterfinals for the first time when he takes on two-time champion Lleyton Hewitt, whom he lost to in their one career meeting six years ago at Queen’s.
 
Hewitt’s third round opponent, Russian Mikhail Youzhny, took the first break of their match to go up 4-2, but managed to win only two more games the rest of the way as the Aussie took control. Hewitt capitalized on all three of his break point chances in the second set and dropped only one point on serve to overwhelm the No. 13 seed, 7-5, 6-1.

Hewitt, who is making his 11th straight appearance in Indian Wells, clinched back-to-back event titles in 2002-03 and finished as runner-up to Roger Federer in 2005.

“I really enjoy playing here,” he said. “Don't know what it is, but I've always had great success in the desert, whether it's Scottsdale, Vegas, or here. This one is one of my favorite tournaments to come back to.”

World No. 11 Andy Murray battled his way into the fourth round, toppling towering Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 6-3 in the evening session, and next faces former Top 10 player Tommy Haas of Germany, who rounded out the fourth round line-up by defeating Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1.

The two met last year in the Indian Wells quarterfinals, a match Murray won in dramatic fashion. The young Scot twisted his left ankle early in the second set of that match, and then saved two match points in the third set tie-break before closing out the win, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(8).