Novak Djokovic confessed that he wasn't "enjoying himself" after surviving another scare in Indian Wells to beat Aleksandar Kovacevic. The No. 3 seed has been forced to go the distance in both his matches so far this fortnight. He came from a set down to beat Kamil Majchrzak on Saturday, and then dropped the second set against Kovacevic before bouncing back to win 6-4 1-6 6-4.

The 38-year-old grew frustrated during the match, at one point pointing and yelling over at his box, including coach Boris Bosnjakovic. He also stretched his leg and hip early in the second set, but recovered to reach the round of 16 for the first time in nine years.

Djokovic won five titles here between 2008 and 2016, but since then has failed to reach the quarter-finals. This is now his best result in Indian Wells since 2017, but he's still struggling in the desert, and made no secret of it in a brutally honest on-court interview.

"Yeah, another tough one. I mean, great performance from Aleks. We know each other. We speak the same language, obviously his whole family is Serbian. Great to see him doing well. We've always had a great relationship, and I always thought he's one of the best talents we have out there, particularly the one-handed backhand, it's very rare nowadays," Djokovic said, first paying tribute to the world No. 72.

"He's played a great tournament so far, and today I knew, coming into the match, that if he serves well and he picks his spots in the box, it's going to be hard to break him. That's what happened, actually. He was serving extremely well until maybe one game in the first, and maybe the last game of the third set, of the match. He got a little bit tight, missed a few first serves. He got me into a position where I can win it, and I seized it."

After his last match, Djokovic openly admitted he had struggled in Indian Wells over the last decade. While he's still been powering through this fortnight, he's not been having fun. The world No. 3 continued: "I'm not really enjoying myself at all times, to be honest!

"I think you are trying obviously to thrive in these kinds of conditions where you're facing an opponent that is playing almost lights out tennis, you get tight, you're not maybe swinging through the ball as well as you want to. But you're winning ugly, right? That's what counts in the end to get the W, and glad to be able to overcome the challenge today."

Things will only get more difficult for Djokovic, as he'll face either reigning champion Jack Draper or No. 19 seed Francisco Cerundolo for a spot in the quarter-finals. The Serbian superstar has also entered the doubles draw here, teaming up with Stefanos Tsitsipas. They are set to face No. 3 seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic later on Monday.

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