Second seed Kei Nishikori came through a marathon clash with Fernando Verdasco to reach the Miami Open last 16.
The veteran Spaniard recovered from 3-0 down in the first set to force a tie-break but Nishikori's half-volley backhand winner gave him the set and he then served for the match at 5-4 in the second.
Verdasco saved a match point to break back and levelled the match in the tie-break with a cross-court backhand winner.
But the Japanese upped his game in the decider to wrap up a 7-6 (7/2) 6-7 (5/7) 6-1 victory in two hours and 44 minutes.
"It was definitely a long match," Nishikori told reporters. "It wasn't easy in the third set, but I have a day off tomorrow, so I should be okay.
"It was a shame when I was up a break in both first and second sets and both went to 7-6. That was something I made some mistakes when I was up a break.
"But in the third set I was very focused. Even though the first and second were tough, I was trying to play with more energy and I think everything was working well in the third. It was a tough one, but I'm very happy to win today."
Fifth seed Rafael Nadal recovered from a poor start to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 0-6 6-2 6-3 in his 1,000th career match.
Nadal's comeback victory sets up a clash with Nicolas Mahut following his 6-4 6-3 win over Guido Pella and the Spaniard said: "A match is long and the positive thing is I held the pressure well this afternoon after a very tough first set. I resisted well in the first few games of the second set and then I think I played a great second and third set."
Qualifier Jared Donaldson was handover a walkover victory into the fourth round after third seed Milos Raonic was forced to withdraw with a hamstring problem.
Donald Young beat Benoit Paire 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 to set up a clash with Fabio Fognini, who beat Jeremy Chardy 3-6 6-4 6-4.
Jack Sock overcame Jiri Vesely 6-4 7-6 (7/0) under the lights and Federico Delbonis got the better of Jan-Lennard Struff with a 7-6 (7/5) 6-1 win.
Source: PA
