"All matches are important for me but especially here where I am defending my title because last year I played my best tournament here," he said.
"It's going to be important for me to serve well against Tsonga. He's strong in his serve.
"From the baseline I must try to play a little bit more aggressively than in Australia."
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Feature: Behind the scenes at Indian Wells
Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic moved into the fourth round with a 6-3 6-2 win over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber.
"I think I have gained something in my game," revealed the 20-year-old after winning in just over an hour.
"I have figured out with experience how I should play in the first couple of rounds."
French eighth seed Richard Gasquet blasted past Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2 6-1 to set up a meeting with ninth seed, American James Blake, who beat Carlos Moya 6-3 6-4.
The upset of the day went to unseeded world number 52 Hyung-Taik Lee, who edged past Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3).
There was no problem for women's top seed Ivanovic as she saw off Garbin to set up a fourth-round match with Italian 13th seed Francesca Schiavone, who beat compatriot Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-4.
"That's very positive," commented Ivanovic. "I finished the match strongly and did some things I was practising and working on, so I'm happy about that."
Jelena Jankovic saw off Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama 6-1 6-1, despite having her serve interrupted by swirling winds throughout the match.
"I really tried to do my job out there, I didn't want to let her get into the match," said Jankovic.
Jankovic coped with swirling breezes in California to advance
"Especially with the wind you cannot lose your concentration because as soon as you do that you start making a lot of errors and then you lose your rhythm.
"I was tossing it and I had a different toss every time."
American Lindsay Davenport battled through an error-strewn match to eventually notch up a 6-4 5-7 6-2 win over Taiwan's Chan Yung-Jan.
"It was tough," added Davenport, who won the Indian Wells crown in 1997 and 2000.
"Next time, hopefully I can keep my cool a little better and focus in on the task at hand."
Briton Andy Murray and doubles partner Eric Butorac were beaten 6-4 6-4 in the second round by Richard Gasquet and Robert Lindstedt.
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