Bopanna-Mergea pair crashes in first round out at Indian Wells, Murray advances

British tennis star Andy Murray beat Spain’s Marcel Granollers to advance to the third round of Indian Wells 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

“It was very different conditions to what I have been practicing and playing in in the past five weeks, against a tough, unorthodox player,” Murray told Efe after his match on Saturday.

“He’s got quite a different game. He’s a very smart player, as well, intelligent player, and often makes the right decisions. He made it tough for me.” Murray now has a head-to-head record of 6-1 against the Spaniard.

In other action on the men’s side, the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych defeated Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, while Canada’s Milos Raonic beat Spain’s Iñigo Cervantes 6-1, 6-3.

Spain’s Albert Ramos upset Australia’s Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, while France’s Gael Monfils beat Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta 7-5, 7-6 (7-1).

On the women’s side, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, the No. 4 seed, was upset by American Christina McHale, the world No. 62, 5-7, 1-6. McHale used a strong service game to beat Muguruza, who struggled with her first serve and never got on track in the second set.

Spain’s Carla Suárez, the No. 6 seed, injured her ankle at practice on Friday and was unable to play Russia’s Daria Kasatkina.

In other action, the Czech Republic’s Denisa Allertova upset Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the No. 2 seed, 7-5, 7-5, while Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig beat Slovakia’s Anna Schmiedlova 6-1, 6-2.

In the doubles event, Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea suffered first round defeat for the second time in a row. The fifth seed Indo-Romanian pair lost 6-2 4-6 4-10 to Spanish team of Feliciano Lopez and Mark Lopez in the opening round of the USD 7,037,595 hard court event. They made a superb start by breaking their rivals twice in the opening set and faced no breakpoint on their serve. However, the Spaniards worked their way back in the match. They cashed in on a break chance in a close second set and force a Super Tie Breaker in which they outplayed Bopanna and Mergea.

Before this the Indo-romanian team had exit in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Championships.