In an all-American first-round clash at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, Donald Young overcame #NextGenATP player Stefan Kozlov 7-5, 7-6(5) in just under two hours.

Young, who goes on to face another American in No. 23 seed Sam Querrey, enjoyed strong showings on home soil last month, reaching back-to-back semifinals in Memphis (l. to Harrison) and Delray Beach (l. to Sock). He has an 8-4 mark on the season and is now bidding to reach the third round at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the fourth time.

Ninth seed Roger Federer will open his bid for a fifth Indian Wells crown against Stephane Robert after the Frenchman defeated Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-4.

Great Britain’s Daniel Evans set a second-round clash with fourth seed Kei Nishikori after surging through his opener with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Dustin Brown in 53 minutes. The right-hander will face Nishikori for the third time, having beaten the Japanese player in their first meeting at the US Open four years ago.

The 26-year-old Evans is enjoying a career-best start to the season, reaching his first ATP World Tour final in Sydney (l. to Muller) and going on to make the fourth round of the Australian Open (l. to Tsonga). He is currently a career-high No. 41 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

There was disappointment for #NextGenATP player Borna Coric, who was beaten 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 by Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen. World No. 123 Laaksonen, who is playing at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the first time, goes on to face No. 17 seed Jack Sock.

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Kyle Edmund got his BNP Paribas Open campaign off to a flying start on Friday, scoring a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win over Gastao Elias at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Edmund didn’t drop serve and broke Elias twice in each set to secure the win in 66 minutes. He will now face three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round.

“The things [Djokovic] does well are making a lot of balls and being quick around the court. It’s tough to get the ball by him and break him down,” said Edmund. “These are things that I’ve experienced the last two times I’ve played him. I’ll try and use that on Sunday.”

American #NextGenATP player Taylor Fritz recorded his first win in Indian Wells by defeating Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-2. The 19-year-old Fritz is aiming for a good showing in Indian Wells as he bids to return to the Top 100 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, having been as high as No. 53 this past August. The right-hander made great strides at the beginning of last year, reaching his first ATP World Tour final in Memphis (l. to Nishikori) and the quarterfinals in Acapulco (l. to Querrey).

“I always think I play well here. This is where I’m from. I’ve played in Indian Wells since I was eight years old, come down here for tournaments. Just being from San Diego my whole life and having a lot of family that lives out here in the desert, it’s like a second home to me,” said Fritz. “I have been telling everyone that I think I have been playing my best tennis ever this week. It’s been going really well in practice, and I just hope that I can bring that onto the court in my next match.”

Fritz goes on to face sixth seed Marin Cilic in the second round.

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Kevin Anderson claimed his first win in more than four months as he defeated qualifier Federico Gaio 6-1, 6-4. The South African made his comeback from injury last month in Memphis (l. to Dzumhur) and Delray Beach (l. to del Potro) after being sidelined at the start of the season due to a hip problem. Next up for Anderson is No. 24 seed Steve Johnson.

In other matches, Mikhail Youzhny set a second-round clash with reigning Australian Open semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov after beating fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4. Other players to advance on Friday include Malek Jaziri, Jan-Lennard Struff and Federico Delbonis.

•    The bottom half of the main draw action at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday features four #NextGenATP players: American wild cards Taylor Fritz and Stefan Kozlov along with Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Borna Coric of Croatia.

•    In the lone men’s singles match on Stadium 1, Frenchman Benoit Paire takes on Fritz for the first time. Fritz was the ATP Star of Tomorrow recipient last season for becoming the youngest player to finish in the Top 100 Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 76. Fritz is trying to break a 13-match losing streak against Top 50 opponents. Paire is ranked No. 40.

•    There are three matches on Stadium 2 with 2013-14 quarter-finalist Kevin Anderson of South Africa taking on Italian qualifier Federico Gaio, who is making his second ATP Masters 1000 tournament showing (2015 Rome). In the next match on, Dustin Brown of Germany meets British No. 2 Daniel Evans, who won the previous meeting 62 63 on Feb. 28 in the 1R of Dubai. In the last singles match, Americans Donald Young and Kozlov square off for the second time (Young leads 1-0). Kozlov, who turned 19 on February 1, is the youngest player in the draw. Young held that title often after breaking into the Top 100 at the age of 18. Now 27, Young already owns wins over all four 19-year-old Americans in the field: Kozlov, Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Reilly Opelka.

•    In the opening match on Stadium 3, Russian #NextGenATP star Medvedev plays countryman Mikhail Youzhny.for the second time. Youzhny won in straight sets in the 2R in January 2016 at the Bangkok-2 Challenger en route to the title. Medvedev is the No. 2 Russian and he opened the season by reaching his maiden ATP World Tour final in Chennai (l. to Bautista Agut). In the next match on, British No. 3 Kyle Edmund meets Gastao Elias of Portugal for the first time.

•    On Stadium 4, Coric takes on the top Swiss player not named Federer or Wawrinka: in No. 123rd-ranked qualifier Henri Laaksonen, who is making his Indian Wells debut.

•    Also in first-round singles action are the Top 2 doubles players in the world: Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France. Mahut meets Malek Jaziri and Herbert takes on Thomaz Bellucci. Their countryman Julien Benneteau faces Facundo Bagnis in a rematch from the 2014 Roland Garros first round, when the Argentine edged the Frenchman 18-16 in the fifth set.

•    First round doubles play gets underway with five Top 10 singles stars in action. No. 1 Andy Murray (w/Evans) vs. No. 5 seeds Feliciano Lopez & Marc Lopez, No. 2 Novak Djokovic (w/Troicki) vs. Rohan Bopanna & Pablo Cuevas, No. 3 Stan Wawrinka (w/Dimitrov) vs. Treat Huey & Max Mirnyi, No. 6 Rafael Nadal (w/Tomic) vs. Pablo Carreno Busta & Joao Sousa, and No. 9 Dominic Thiem (w/Kohlschreiber) vs. Alexander & Mischa Zverev.

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Watch your favourite players work on their games by taking in a live stream at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

At four minutes past midnight, Damir Dzumhur held on for a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Ryan Harrison in two hours and 10 minutes at the BNP Paribas Open. The Bosnian advanced to a second-round match-up with Albert Ramos-Vinolas as he broke Harrison in the final game of the match, having saved 10 of the 13 break points he faced.

The No. 67-ranked Dzumhur is coming off a run to the Dubai quarter-finals, where he upset Stan Wawrinka in the first round.

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Vasek Pospisil battled through to a second-round clash with World No. 1 and 2009 finalist Andy Murray on Thursday evening as he came from behind to defeat Yen-Hsun Lu 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 30 minutes.

The Canadian, who came through qualifying, struck 10 aces and converted six of his nine break points to set up the clash with Murray, whom he last played in the 2015 Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Having slipped as low as No. 137 in the Emirates ATP Rankings last November, Pospisil is looking for a good run in the desert as he bids to make a return to the Top 100. The Canadian, who was in the Top 25 three years ago, won the doubles title at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden two years ago with Jack Sock.

Fabio Fognini staged an improbable comeback as he rallied from a 0-6, 2-5 deficit to defeat Konstantin Kravchuk 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 19 minutes. The Italian goes on to face seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

One day after facing each other in the final round of qualifying, Yoshihito Nishioka and Elias Ymer crossed paths again in the main draw first round. With Ymer having won Wednesday’s contest 6-3, 6-1, he found Nishioka across the net again after he claimed a lucky loser spot in the main draw and this time it was the Japanese who prevailed, recording a 6-4, 6-1 victory in one hour and 48 minutes.

“Yesterday I wasn’t playing that great and I got down on myself mentally pretty quickly,” said Nishioka. “I couldn’t fight yesterday and that’s why I lost so quickly. Today, I could not lose to him again. I had to get revenge. I focused on how to win against him. I fought every point from the first point. I didn’t lose my mentality and kept fighting. It was tough for him.”

Next up for Nishioka will be 19th seed Ivo Karlovic. The 21 year old is a career-high No. 70 in the Emirates ATP Rankings this week after reaching the quarterfinals (l. to Nadal) as a qualifier last week in Acapulco.

Alexandr Dolgopolov, who beat Rafael Nadal en route to reaching the semi-finals in the desert three years ago, is through to the second round after defeating Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-4. The Ukrainian ended a five-year title drought last month when he defeated Kei Nishikori to win the Buenos Aires crown on clay.

Jeremy Chardy set a second-round clash with eighth seed Dominic Thiem after beating qualifier Radu Albot 7-6(6), 6-2 in one hour and 47 minutes.

The Bryans rock.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have been hitting the right chord for the past 18 years at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and on Thursday they were on song with entertainment of a different kind.

Fans chanted “here we go Bryans!” as the American twins rocked out with Counting Crows star percussionist Jim Bogios at the Village Stage. The winningest doubles team in history have demonstrated their musical talents over the years, forming the Bryan Bros. Band and performing with renowned recording artists. As throngs of fans filed in on a warm Thursday evening, the energy emanating from Bob on the keyboard and Mike on electric guitar engulfed the plaza. And when actress Kaley Cuoco of The Big Bang Theory made an appearance, the crowd erupted.

“We’ve known Jim for more than 10 years and for him to come off the tour with the Counting Crows, it makes everyone better and it really means a lot,” said Mike. “To have the energy that Jim gives off and a backbeat that strong is pretty cool. It was another level.

“This gig is our Super Bowl. Just to see the crowd out there and that it was already packed before we started, shows that we’re doing something right. They stayed for every song.”
It marked the sixth straight year the Bryans have performed in Indian Wells. In addition to Bogios, they were joined on stage by Dan DeShara of San Francisco on guitar and vocals and George Holdcroft of Hollywood on sax, keyboard and vocals.

“Tennis comes a little more natural to us,” Mike said, when asked to compare playing tennis in front of thousands of fans or playing a gig on stage. “You have to think a little more here. We do this once a year and you don’t want to mess up. These guys make it look easy, but it’s far from it. When you walk on the tennis court, it flows pretty naturally. This is improving though. It’s getting better and better.”

The Bryans open their quest for a third BNP Paribas Open title and 37th at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level against wild cards Nick Kyrgios and Nenad Zimonjic. Seeded second, they are bidding to extend their streak of one Masters 1000 crown in seven consecutive seasons.

To witness Novak Djokovic lift the trophy at the BNP Paribas Open is a familiar sight for tennis fans in the California desert. For the three-time defending champion, another tradition has become old hat as well.

Every year since 2014, Djokovic has been etched into Indian Wells lore – literally – with the tournament’s singles champions honoured with a personalised mural by renowned artist Michael Sullivan. The tournament paid tribute to the World No. 2 on Stadium Plaza on Thursday afternoon.

“Michael is a great artist and I’m really happy that we see each other annually now,” said Djokovic. “Hopefully we will keep that tradition going. It’s a very nice tradition that Indian Wells is doing to honour the past champions. This tournament has set a high standard with the quality of organisation. It’s one of the best in the world.”

Sullivan’s masterpiece is acrylic on canvas, transferred onto glossy 12-inch by 12-inch ceramic tiles. The entire process takes an impressive three-to-six weeks, from drawing to installation of tiles, and he produces four portraits in total – two legends and the two defending champions.

“The poses are different, his shirts are different, but Novak has been the constant,” said Sullivan. “It’s cool that he’s won it three years in a row. I’m running out of poses. We’ve done one where his hands are behind his head with a backhand follow-through and one of a forehand.”

Djokovic opens his quest for a fourth consecutive BNP Paribas Open title and sixth overall on Sunday, against either Kyle Edmund of Gastao Elias. A trio of potential blockbuster clashes loom large, with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev all lurking in the Serbian’s quarter of the draw.