Djokovic's revenge, Serena's domination

Novak Djokovic avenged his only loss of 2016 with a ruthless 6-3 6-3 victory over Feliciano Lopez as the Serbian top seed eased into the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday.

An eye issue forced Djokovic to retire against his Spanish opponent at the Dubai Duty Free Championships last month but he had his sights set firmly on victory for their rematch in California.

The world number one needed just 66 minutes to prevail as he won 75 percent of his points on serve and broke Lopez three times.

"I have respect for his game, which definitely made me very cautious of approaching this match and made me very determined to impose my game plan from the very beginning," Djokovic told reporters.

"I was very solid. I didn't allow him to come to the net too many times. It was a good performance."

Djokovic enjoyed his best performance of the tournament to date and next meets Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who defeated Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-2, as the defending champion seeks an unprecedented fifth title at Indian Wells.

Earlier, fourth seed Nadal, three times a champion at Indian Wells, rallied from 5-2 down in the final set, saving a match point on the way, before going past 18-year-old German prospect Alexandr Zverev 6-7(8) 6-0 7-5.

"I am especially happy about the mentality on court, the fighting spirit during the whole match, believing that I can win a match during the whole time even in the tougher situations," Nadal said.

On the women's front, a dominant Serena Williams proved far too strong for defending champion Simona Halep as the American eased into the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-4 6-3 victory on Wednesday.

The world number one has yet to drop a set in four matches in California, and Williams made a tricky opponent on paper look completely over-matched in the quarter-final encounter.

The 21-time grand slam champion blasted 28 winners to Halep's nine. She also recorded seven aces, aptly closing out the match with an unreturnable serve down the middle.

Williams also broke the Romanian's serve four times and improved her head-to-head record to 7-1 against her fifth-seeded opponent.

A right knee injury forced Williams to withdraw from the event last year, when she ended a self-imposed 14-year absence at the tournament, giving Halep a walkover in their scheduled semi-final.