Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz forced to dig deep in hard-fought Indian Wells wins

World No 3 and five-time Indian Wells champion Djokovic overcame a significant scare against home favourite Aleksandar Kovacevic, righting the ship in the closing stages to claim a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 win.

Djokovic had been forced to battle back from a set down to beat Kamil Majchrzak 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in his opening match on Saturday, though he started more impressively against Kovacevic in this third-round contest.

However, the world No 3's level then dropped dramatically during the second set, and world No 72 Kovacevic more than took advantage - breaking twice on his way to forcing a decider.

Neither Djokovic nor Kovacevic gave too much away throughout large stages of the third set, though the Serbian broke in the decisive tenth game to seal victory.

Asked during his post-match interview how he had approached his latest test, the 38-year-old admitted the match was demanding both mentally and physically.

"I'm not really enjoying myself at all times, to be honest," conceded Djokovic.

"You know, you are trying, obviously, to thrive in these kind of conditions, where you're facing an opponent that is playing almost lights-out tennis.

"You get tight, you're maybe not swinging through the ball as well as you want to, but 'winning ugly', right? That's what counts in the end to get the W and I'm glad to be able to overcome the challenge."

Djokovic is now set to return to action on Wednesday, when he will take on reigning Indian Wells champion Jack Draper in the fourth round.

Elsewhere on Monday, top seed and two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz also advanced to the fourth round, though he too was pushed in a comeback performance.

The world No. 1 trailed by a set and a break early against 26th seed Arthur Rinderknech but rallied impressively to secure a 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2 victory.

Alcaraz turned the match around with aggressive baseline play and superior movement in the later stages, breaking the big-serving Frenchman multiple times to close it out in just over two hours and keep his bid for a third Indian Wells title very much alive.

READ MORE: Novak Djokovic weighs in on women playing five-set matches: I don't recommend it