( CNN ) -- He may be in need of match practice on hard courts , but Rafael Nadal had the good fortune of reaching the last 16 of the Masters Series 1000 tournament in Indian Wells without hitting a ball in anger Monday . His third-round opponent Leonardo Mayer of Argentina withdrew before the start of their match on the Stadium Court , citing a back problem . Nadal , who has slipped to No . 5 in the world rankings after a seven-month injury layoff , made his comeback last month in three clay court tournaments in South America , testing his troublesome knee . He beat Mayer , his second career win over him , in the quarterfinals in Acapulco before going on to claim the title in confident style . But the eyes of the tennis world were on Nadal as he returned to the more unforgiving hard court surface for the first time in 346 days with a second round match against Ryan Harrison of the United States Saturday . The Spanish maestro came through that test 7-6 6-2 to advance to the third round of the tournament for the ninth time , bidding for his third title as the Californian event . He will now get an extra day 's rest before facing Ernests Gulbis of Latvia for a place in the quarterfinals Wednesday . Gulbis , renowned for his fiery temperament , smashed his racket during the first set of his match against Andreas Seppi as he lost five straight games to concede it 7-5 . But he recovered with fine play in the second set before setting up victory as he broke his Italian opponent in the seventh game of the decider . Gulbis served it out to win 5-7 6-3 6-4 to earn a crack at the 11-time grand slam champion . If Nadal , looking to defend his French Open crown on his favorite clay surface later this year , can get past Gulbis , he is likely to face his first big test with a possible last eight clash against his great rival Roger Federer , the second seed . Defending champion Federer , who said before the start of the tournament that he was `` excited '' by the return of Nadal to top flight action , thrashed Croatia 's Ivan Dodig 6-3 6-1 to set up a fourth-round clash with his friend and fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka . Wawrinka , the 18th seed , won 6-4 7-5 against Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt , who on Saturday beat last year 's losing finalist John Isner . Tenth seed Richard Gasquet set up a last-16 clash with world No . 6 Tomas Berdych , while fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon will take on big-serving South African Kevin Anderson . In the women 's draw , top seed Victoria Azarenka came from a set down to beat Belgian No . 28 Kirsten Flipkens 3-6 6-3 6-0 . The world No . 2 won 12 points in a row to extend her winning streak to 16 matches and set up a fourth-round clash with Poland 's Urszula Radwanska . `` I 'm really happy that I find the ability to turn around my matches no matter what the circumstances are on the court , '' said the Belorussian , who was criticized after taking a lengthy medical timeout before winning her Australian Open semifinal against Sloane Stephens in late January . `` To know when to take your opportunities is a learning experience . I 'm glad I 'm starting to master that . '' Australian seventh seed Sam Stosur also went to three sets before beating China 's Peng Shuai 6-3 3-6 6-2 , earning a meeting with Germany 's Mona Barthel -- who beat former world No . 1 Ana Ivanovic 6-1 3-6 6-0 . Caroline Wozniacki , another former No . 1 , went through to the last 16 with a 6-2 6-1 win over Elena Vesnina and will next face another Russian in 10th seed Nadia Petrova . German fourth seed Angelique Kerber also progressed , beating Belgium 's No . 30 Yanina Wickmayer 6-1 7-6 ( 7-4 ) to set up a clash with 95th-ranked Spaniard Garbine Muguruza .
Rafael Nadal into fourth round of Masters 1000 Series at Indian Wells after a bye . Nadal will play Ernests Gulbis of Denmark for a quarterfinal berth in hard - court event . Roger Federer also through to last 16 , where he will play Stanislas Wawrinka . Top women 's player Victoria Azarenka battles through after losing first set .