Fish Sets Djokovic Clash; Harrison Earns Second Win

© Getty ImagesJeremy Chardy reached the third round on his Indian Wells debut last year.

Past finalist Mardy Fish recovered from a slow start to defeat German Michael Berrer 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 on day one of men’s main draw action at the BNP Paribas Open, the first of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournaments.

Berrer converted all three of his break points in the first set, before Fish returned the favor in the second to level the match. The 28 year old American then needed just one more break of serve to complete the comeback.

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He will have a chance to avenge his loss in the 2008 final when he next faces World No. 2 Novak Djokovic. Fish had reached the championship match that year with upset wins over Top 10 players Nikolay Davydenko, David Nalbandian and Roger Federer before falling to Djokovic in three sets.

Wild card Ryan Harrison followed his countryman on Stadium Court, and ended a two-year wait for his second tour-level win as he defeated practice partner Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-4 with a break of serve in each set.

The 17-year-old Harrison, currently No. 284 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, earned his only victory on the ATP World Tour in April 2008 at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston (d. Cuevas). He had lost in his four main draw appearances since.

Frenchmen Florent Serra and Jeremy Chardy kicked off men’s main draw action at the BNP Paribas Open with straight-sets wins Thursday morning. Serra raced through his opener against Colombian Alejandro Falla 6-1, 6-2 in 53 minutes, while Chardy established a 6-1, 4-1 lead against Italian Potito Starace when his opponent retired with a back injury.

Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez earned a hard-fought 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Slovakian Lukas Lacko in two hours and 24 minutes, picking up his first match win of 2010 after dropping five straight openers to start the season. He next faces eighth-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic, who leads the circuit with an 18-2 record.

Also Thursday, German veteran Rainer Schuettler defeated fellow qualifier Thiago Alves of Brazil 7-5, 6-0 to set up a second-round meeting with defending champion Rafael Nadal.   

Recent Delray Beach titlist Ernests Gulbis closed out the day's play with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Swiss Marco Chiudinelli. He next faces World No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko, who has won their two previous encounters.