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 An eye issue forced Djokovic to retire against his Spanish
opponent at the Dubai Duty Free Championships last month but he had
his sights set firmly on victory for their rematch in California.
The world number one needed just 66 minutes to prevail as he won 75
percent of his points on serve and broke Lopez three times.
"I have respect for his game, which definitely made me very cautious
of approaching this match and made me very determined to impose my
game plan from the very beginning," Djokovic told reporters.
"I was very solid. I didn't allow him to come to the net too many
times. It was a good performance."
Djokovic enjoyed his best performance of the tournament to date and
next meets Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who defeated Dominic Thiem
6-3 6-2, as the defending champion seeks an unprecedented fifth
title at Indian Wells.
 Earlier in the day, third seed Stan Wawrinka was sent packing in the
fourth round and the Swiss was very nearly joined by Rafa Nadal, who
pulled off a Houdini-like escape to reach the last eight.
Fourth seed Nadal, three times a champion at Indian Wells, rallied
from 5-2 down in the final set, saving a match point on the way,
before battling past 18-year-old German prospect Alexandr Zverev
6-7(8) 6-0 7-5.
The power-hitting Zverev had been bidding to become the youngest
quarter-finalist at the event since 1989 and led 40-30 when serving
for the match in the ninth game but his nerve deserted him at the
Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
"This is painful right now, but it doesn't change anything about the
process," Zverev said.
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Spanish left-hander Nadal won the last five games of the deciding
set to advance and was delighted with the fightback.
"I am especially happy about the mentality on court, the fighting
spirit during the whole match, believing that I can win a match
during the whole time even in the tougher situations," Nadal said.
Wawrinka was ousted by Belgian David Goffin, who sealed a 6-3 5-7
7-6(5) victory when his Swiss opponent netted a forehand in a
closely contested tiebreak after a wildly fluctuating match that
lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours.
It was only the second time in his career that Goffin had beaten a
player ranked in the top 10 and it earned him a spot in the last
eight of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the second time.
Also advancing to the last eight was 12th-seeded Canadian Milos
Raonic, who overpowered sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4 7-6(7).
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes and Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles;
Editing by John O'Brien)
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