Rafael Nadal recovered from a few early wobbles to beat Britain's Dan Evans in straight sets in the last-32 of the Indian Wells Masters on Monday.
The 21-time Grand Slam winner produced a number of unforced errors in the opening exchanges as Evans went into a 4-2 lead after an early break, but Nadal broke back not long after to level at 4-4.
Nadal soon found his groove and stormed into a 3-0 lead in the second set before ultimately marching to a 7-5 6-3 triumph for his 400th ATP Masters 1000 victory.
The Spaniard posted a remarkable 81% win rate on his second serve during the contest, despite also recording five double faults, and he will now prepare for battle against Reilly Opelka or Denis Shapovalov in the fourth round.
"I did not know about that [400th Masters 1000 victory], good numbers of course!" Nadal said during his on-court interview. "Happy to be through of course, the match did not start the way that I wanted but I was able to hit a couple of good passing shots in key moments.
"I think I improved a little bit with my serve, for a moment it was difficult but I think my forehand is starting to work a bit better. Even if I create a couple of double faults I can do damage with my second serve."
Defending champion Cameron Norrie is now the last man standing for Britain in the men's singles tournament, with the 26-year-old facing Nikoloz Basilashvili in a repeat of last year's final for a spot in the fourth round.
Meanwhile, qualifier Harriet Dart will battle for a spot in the last eight of the women's singles tomorrow, as the British qualifier faces the USA's Madison Keys in the fourth round. body check tags ::
