Djokovic and Nadal advance at windy Indian Wells

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) - Defending champion Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round of the Pacific Life Open on Saturday while third seed Novak Djokovic had to work a little harder to advance.

Spaniard Nadal swept aside Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-3 6-3 after Djokovic had survived a shaky second set in swirling winds on the Stadium Court to beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3 7-6.

Djokovic, who clinched his maiden grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, struggled for fluency after dominating his opponent with crunching groundstrokes before wrapping up victory in one hour and 40 minutes.

"Everybody could realize the wind was the most thing difficult today," the 20-year-old Serb said in a courtside televised interview after clinching the tiebreak 7-3.

"It was a big factor. In the desert it is probably a good thing to have the wind to cool off a little bit but for us it's a pain in the ...," he added before trailing off.

Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in last year's final at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, will next meet Belgian Xavier Malisse or Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Despite the blustery conditions, Djokovic delivered an exquisite drop shot to break Seppi in the fourth game before breezing through the first set in 36 minutes.

The Serb, who piled up five ATP titles in 2007, broke his opponent again in the fifth game of the second set before squandering his first match point when leading 5-3 and 30-40 in the ninth.