Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic are comfortably through to the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals after dismissing Marcelo Arevalo and Matwe Middelkoop in straight sets on Tuesday.
The Croatian duo – champions nine times already this season, including at Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and three Masters 1000 events – advanced 6-1, 6-3 over the Salvadoran/Dutch combination. They dropped just six points on their first serve and saved both break points to set a clash with seventh seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek.
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Since 2000, only Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have won 10 titles in a season. In only their first season together, Mektic and Pavic have a chance to equal the feat at Indian Wells as they search for their first trophy since clinching the gold medal in Tokyo.
Peers/Polasek beat Dutch duo Wesley Koolhof and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 7-6(5) in 99 minutes for their third straight quarter-final spot, following their run to the US Open semi-finals and San Diego Open final. The Australian/Slovak tandem won 76 per cent of first-serve points but converted just three of 11 break point chances.