Indian Wells, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Defending champion Novak Djokovic and
Andy Murray were second-round winners Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open.
Djokovic handled Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-1, 6-3, while Murray cruised past
Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-1, 6-3 on the hardcourts at the Indian Wells Tennis
Garden.
The 27-year-old Djokovic, who improved to 8-0 against Baghdatis, is a three-
time winner at this event. He is bidding to become the 12th player in the Open
Era to win 50 titles.
The fourth-seeded Murray is now just three wins from surpassing Tim Henman’s
haul of 496 career match wins. If he does so, he will become Britain’s most
successful player in the Open Era, in terms of matches won.
Murray will next face 26th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, who needed just 51
minutes to beat wild card Tim Smyczek. The German hit 14 winners and faced no
break points in his 6-3, 6-1 victory over the American.
No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori handled American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-4 to set up a
third-round match with 28th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, who beat James
Duckworth of Australia 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).
David Ferrer, the No. 8 seed, outlasted Ivan Dodig 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6). Up
next for Ferrer is No. 32 seed Bernard Tomic, who discarded Borna Coric 6-3,
6-4.
Juan Monaco upset 10th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4 and 12th-seeded
Spaniard Feliciano Lopez rallied past Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-7 (3-7), 6-4,
6-4.
No. 14 seed Ernests Gulbis picked up his first win of 2015 with a 6-4, 6-1
victory over lucky loser Daniel Gimeno-Traver. Up next for Gulbis is Frenchman
Adrian Mannarino, who took down 19th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini 7-6 (10-8),
6-3.
American John Isner, the No. 18 seed, defeated Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-4 to set
up a third-round match with No. 16 seed Kevin Anderson, who got past Federico
Delbonis 7-5, 6-4.
No. 20 seed Pablo Cuevas rallied past Jarkko Nieminen 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, Thanasi
Kokkinakis upset 23rd-seeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 and
Albert Ramos-Vinolas beat 25th-seeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-2, 6-3.
