(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.
Read: Nadal warms up for Indian Wells with title win
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.
Federer, who said before the start of the tournament that he was "excited" by the return of Nadal to top flight action, was playing Ivan Dodig of Croatia in a later third round match as he defends his title.
Via: Nadal to face Gulbis after getting walkover
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