Mahut/Herbert Start Bid For Second Indian Wells Crown

Former champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert swept into the BNP Paribas Open second round on Sunday when the fifth seeds defeated Damir Dzumhur and Filip Krajinovic 6-1, 6-2 in just 46 minutes. From 1-1 in the first set, the French pair won nine straight games to a 4-0 advantage in the second set. They lost just nine of their service points.

Two years ago, Mahut and Herbert captured their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells with a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock in the final. They have since compiled a 6-1 record in Masters 1000 finals and are 11-5 overall in championship matches.

The team will now prepare to challenge Pablo Cuevas and Horacio Zeballos, who recovered from a set and 1-4 deficit to beat Santiago Gonzalez and Nicholas Monroe 6-7(5), 7-5, 10-2 in one hour and 32 minutes.

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Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer took their chances to knock out top seeds and last year’s finalist Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-4 in 70 minutes. Last year, Kubot and Melo won three Masters 1000 titles and finished the year at No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings. Bautista Agut and Ferrer will next face Americans John Isner and Sock in the second round.

Elsewhere, sixth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, competing with confidence after picking up the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships crown (d. Cerretani-Paes) for a 17-4 team record in finals, knocked out Ryan Harrison and Max Mirnyi 7-6(5), 6-4 in 90 minutes. They now meet Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez.

In one other doubles match, Fabio Fognini and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi overcame Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 to set up a match against in-form third seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, winners of three titles – including the Australian Open – from four finals in 2018.