RYAN HARRISON STARTS WITH WIN AND SHORT UPDATE ON DAY ONE AT INDIAN WELLS

Written by: Staff on 13th March 2015

RYAN HARRISON STARTS WITH WIN AND SHORT UPDATE ON DAY ONE AT INDIAN WELLS |

The 40th edition of the BNP Paribas Open, the first of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events this season, got under way at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Thursday.

Wild card Ryan Harrison saved two match points to defeat compatriot Mardy Fish 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3). It was the first match since August 2013 for the 33-year-old American, who was hindered by 52 unforced errors in the match.

Mardy Fish of the US in action during his first round match against Ryan Harrison of the US at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 12 March 2015. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

“It felt great to be out there,” said Fish. “Those are the situations that you work hard to put yourself into. This is such a great event. I have great memories from 2008 here, on that court, so it felt fantastic to be out there.

“I’ve worked really hard to get back in shape so I don’t have any issues during a match or after a match. I worked extremely hard to put myself in the best position not to worry about things when I’m out there.”

Harrison saved 12 of 15 break points faced to prevail in the two hour, 36-minute match, but had nothing but good things to say about Fish.

“He’s a great athlete,” said Harrison, who will next face fifth seed Kei Nishikori. “He’s been out for a while, but he can still come out and play a really good match. I think it was nervy from both of us at times, but I’m just happy to be through.”

Another American wild card, Tim Smyczek, beat Benjamin Becker 6-3, 7-6(4) in 81 minutes. He will face 26th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round.

Ivan Dodig served 10 aces and capitalized on four of his five break points chances to beat Joao Sousa 6-3, 7-5 in 87 minutes. Dodig will next face eighth seed and Abierto Mexicano Telcel champion David Ferrer.

Buenos Aires runner-up Juan Monaco prevailed over Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in just over two hours. The Argentine survived 30 winners from his opponent, hitting just 17 of his own, and saved 10 of 14 break points faced in the match. Monaco will face No. 10 seed Marin Cilic in the second round.

Federico Delbonis defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-3 in 69 minutes while Jarkko Nieminen, who recently celebrated his 400th match win, got the better of qualifier Thiemo De Bakker, 7-6(3), 6-4 in 98 minutes. Delbonis will face 16th seed Kevin Anderson in the second round and Nieminen will take on No. 20 seed Pablo Cuevas.

As the sun began to set, Edouard Roger-Vasselin outlasted Marinko Matosevic 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the second round and set a meeting with 12th seed Feliciano Lopez.

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Borna Coric notched their first Masters 1000 wins, defeating Jan-Lennard Struff and Andreas Haider-Maurer, respectively.

Elsewhere, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Jurgen Melzer, Adrian Mannarino, James Duckworth and Daniel Gimeno-Traver also advanced over Viktor Troicki, Dennis Novikov, Mischa Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Sam Groth, respectively.

Vasek Pospisil advanced after Mikhail Kukushkin retired due to a right elbow injury. The Canadian will face fourth seed Andy Murray in the second round.

(Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/03/10/Indian-Wells-Thursday-Fish-Monaco-Troicki-Kokkinakis.aspx )

Topics: Atp, BNP Paribas Open, BNPPO15, Indian Wells, Mardy Fish, Ryan Harrison, Tennis

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March 13, 2015 at 7:36 am

-@ryanharrison92 STARTS WITH WIN AND SHORT UPDATE ON DAY ONE AT #IndianWells- http://t.co/t1ypurd0Dl #tennis #ATP #BNPParibas #BNPPO15