13 March 2010 / AP, INDIAN WELL, CALIF.
Former finalist Mardy Fish beat Michael Berrer of Germany 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday to set up a second-round match against second-seeded Novak Djokovic.
The 28-year-old American, sidelined most of the second half of last season due to a fractured rib and left knee surgery, has lost all three previous matches _ including the 2008 final at Indian Wells -to Djokovic. Former No. 1-ranked Carlos Moya led the men’s advance to the second round, but made more than 50 unforced errors before overcoming American qualifier Tim Smyczek 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5). The 33-year-old Spaniard had to save two set points in the opening tiebreaker and then saved two set points while trailing 5-3 in the second, before finally winning in 2 hours, 20 minutes. Croatia’s Mario Ancic rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over American Bobby Reynolds, joining Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Florent Serra, Fabio Fognini of Italy, Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, Ramon Delgado of Paraguay, Philipp Petzschner of Germany, Kevin Anderson of South Africa, Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain in the second round. On the women’s side, 16-year-old Sloane Stephens beat Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) to register her first in the first WTA Tour level win. Her fellow Americans Shenay Perry and Melanie Oudin went out. Perry lost to Karolina Sprem, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 and Oudin lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 to Roberta Vinci of Italy.
