Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych won in straight sets in the BNP Paribas Open second round on Saturday.
Wawrinka, the third seed, was too good for Illya Marchenko, while Murray had earlier overcome Marcel Granollers. The day's big battle between Berdych and the returning Juan Martin del Potro went in the Czech's favour in a hard-hitting contest.
It was mostly a good day for the seeds, with Marin Cilic and Richard Gasquet also among the winners.
BIG GUNS PROGRESS
All eyes were on second seed Murray, who delivered with a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory over Granollers in a somewhat scratchy display. Wawrinka took centre stage during the night session and easily dispatched of Marchenko 6-3 6-2 in just 65 minutes.
All fist pumps from >@andy_murray>#BNPPO16>pic.twitter.com/7RL4jthiSE
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) >March 13, 2016
Berdych and Del Potro both wasted chances in their encounter before the Czech sixth seed escaped with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 win against the Argentinian, the 2013 runner-up.
Cilic dropped just seven games against Ryan Harrison, while Gasquet only lost five in his thrashing of fellow Frenchman Nicolas Mahut
KYRGIOS MAKES FIERY EXIT
There were six seeds making exits, with Nick Kyrgios and Viktor Troicki among them. Australian Kyrgios, the 24th seed, slumped to a disappointing 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 loss to Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Troicki proved no match for Leonardo Mayer, suffering a 7-5 6-3 defeat. Also departing were Pablo Cuevas, beaten by Guido Pella, Jeremy Chardy, Joao Sousa and Thomaz Bellucci, the Brazilian going down to Borna Coric.
CHANCES WASTED
Kyrgios' frustrations may have come down to missed chances after he failed to convert any of his 10 break points. Bernard Tomic and Rajeev Ram played for the third time this year, with the Australian winning 6-4 7-5 to take a 2-1 lead in their head-to-head.
BERDYCH, DEL POTRO REACT
"It was a tough match, a very tough opponent," Berdych said of Del Potro, former US Open champion.
Del Potro rued his missed chances after failing to convert any of his seven break points, saying: "I played a great first set. I had my opportunities to win that set and I missed it."
DJOKOVIC, NADAL IN ACTION
The big guns in the men's draw start their campaigns on Sunday. Novak Djokovic takes on American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo and Rafael Nadal faces fellow left-hander Gilles Muller. Grigor Dimitrov, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and John Isner are also in action.
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