Indian Wells, CA – American James Blake and Russian Nikolay Davydenko were first-round winners Friday at the first Masters 1000 event of the year -- the $4.33 million BNP Paribas Open.
Blake downed Robin Haase of The Netherlands, 6-3, 6-4, while Davydenko dismissed Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 on the hardcourts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The wild card Blake was a runner-up here in 2006.
Croatian Ivo Karlovic defeated American wild card Jack Sock, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2.
Aussie Marinko Matosevic doused wild card and former top-five star Tommy Robredo of Spain 7-5, 6-2, while Spaniard Pablo Andujar overcame wild card and former NCAA champion Steve Johnson 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Day 2.
Other opening-round winners were American Bobby Reynolds, Frenchman Michael Llodra, Italian Fabio Fognini, Spaniards Albert Ramos and Daniel Gimeno- Traver, Aussie qualifier Matthew Ebden, Russian Evgeny Donskoy, Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei, Argentine Carlos Berlocq, German qualifier Philipp Petzschner and fellow countryman Bjorn Phau. Donskoy is rewarded with a second-round match against U.S. Open champ Andy Murray.
The great Roger Federer titled here for the fourth time last year by beating 6-foot-9 American John Isner in the final. The Swiss icon is a perfect 4-0 when he reaches the championship round in the California desert.
The top seeds at this lucrative 11-day event are world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the former top-ranked Federer, the 2009 Indian Wells runner-up Murray, David Ferrer, and another former No. 1, Rafael Nadal. Djokovic is a two-time champion and former Indian Wells runner-up, while Nadal is also a two-time winner and former runner-up at this tournament. Djokovic will take on Fognini in the second round.
Federer, Djokovic and Nadal have combined to win eight of the last nine titles here.
The 2013 Indian Wells champion will collect $1 million.
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