After a series of stunning upsets rocked Indian Wells on Monday, order mostly returned to the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday.  Veteran Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco upset world No. 9 Richard Gasquet, but most of the other favorites prevailed.  Among them were the two No. 2 seeds, Novak Djokovic and Agnieszka Radwanska.

A two-time champion at Indian Wells, Djokovic had voiced disappointment with his slow start in his first match against Victor Hanescu.  The Serb succeeded in reversing that trend by racing through a 6-1 first set on Tuesday.  Dominating world No. 91 Alejandro Gonzalez in every facet of the game, Djokovic looked every inch a title contender.  For his part, Gonzalez looked like a man who hadn’t won an ATP main-draw match before this week, as was the case.  He lacked any answers to Djokovic’s balanced game and also lacked the belief that other underdogs have shown at Indian Wells.

In the second set, though, the Serb seemed content to cruise toward the finish line.  Complacency, ever a scourge of unwary tennis players, crept into his game as he failed to break serve in the set’s early stages.  Granted a reprieve, Gonzalez built rhythm and confidence.  The grand stage of the sport’s second-largest stadium no longer overwhelmed him.  When Djokovic sank into an uncharacteristic lull at 3-4, Gonzalez pounced.  He had not earned a break point in the match until then, but he converted his first opportunity and passed the test of serving for the set with flying colors.

Suddenly, Djokovic found himself thrust into a final set by an opponent whom nobody could have expected to challenge him.  The world No. 2 knew that he needed to emerge from his bizarre lull at the end of the second set.  Outside that sole service game, when he sprayed groundstrokes wildly, Djokovic had been untouchable on serve.  He was untouchable again in the final set, rolling to victory for the loss of only one game.  The key turning point came as early as the second game, when Djokovic saved no fewer than nine game points before converting the first break point that he earned.  Gonzalez soon resigned himself to his fate and never seriously threatened afterward.

The 6-1 3-6 6-1 scoreline captured the odd rollercoaster that had unfolded.  Upsets throughout the lower half of the men’s draw will prevent Djokovic from facing any opponent in the top 10 until the final, but his appearance there is hardly guaranteed.  The Serb has looked vulnerable to abrupt dips in form during his first two matches, as he has for much of his 2014 campaign.  Plenty of intriguing dark horses may fancy their chances to derail his quest for a third Indian Wells title.  One of them lies ahead on Wednesday:  the surging Marin Cilic, who is 0-7 against Djokovic but has won 16 of his last 17 matches.

Djokovic knows that he cannot produce such an uneven effort against Cilic, as he acknowledged after the match.  “A loss of concentration caused me to lose the second set for no reason,” lamented the Serb.  Djokovic also hinted that he grew complacent after winning the first set so comfortably, but he was not overly concerned that he would continue lapsing in focus as the competition stiffens. 

As the shadows lengthened across the stadium in Indian Wells, women’s No. 2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska confronted an opponent much more dangerous than Djokovic’s prey.  Alize Cornet had stunned top-ranked Serena Williams last month en route to a Premier final in Dubai.  Even before that breakthrough, the Frenchwoman’s belief had begun to mount against elite opponents.  Cornet twice took sets from Victoria Azarenka at majors last year, and she nearly took a set from Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open in January.

The French underdog nearly would take the first set from Radwanska as well.  Undeterred by an early 1-4 deficit, Cornet swept four straight games by winning the battles of point construction and court positioning that Radwanska has made a career from winning.  Shortly, she held double set point on her racquet with the No. 2 seed reeling.  Long infamous for her mental frailty, however, Cornet would squander both set points.  A double fault on the second chance telegraphed her nerves to her opponent, who knew to take advantage.

Racing quickly through the rest of the set, Radwanska weathered an exchange of breaks midway through the second and stayed in control.  To her credit, Cornet continued to compete bravely and struck her share of scintillating winners from all parts of the court.  Radwanska outmaneuvered the Frenchwoman on key points late in the set once again, however, and completed a straightforward victory in just under 90 minutes.  She next faces Jelena Jankovic, the only former champion remaining in the women’s draw.  A victory in that quarterfinal would mark Radwanska’s best performance ever at the BNP Paribas Open.

Neither No. 2 seed produced their finest tennis from start to finish on Tuesday, but each played well enough to survive without undue drama.  In a tournament where much has defied expectations, surviving without undue drama may be as much as one can ask.  Djokovic and Radwanska still stand high on the list of title contenders in Indian Wells as the brackets narrow and the action accelerates towards its climax.