Star Metro - Brazilian teen Fonseca into Indian Wells second round

The 18-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, who became the 10th-youngest ATP Tour champion in history when he triumphed at the Argentina Open last month, kept his cool on a blustery day in the California desert, winning the last five games to clinch the match.

"Today was petty difficult, a lot of windy," he said. "But I got through. Beginning of the match I played really well and he was making some mistakes.

"But the second set he played more aggressive and I was a bit more tight, maybe a bit more nervous."

Fearnley, a 23-year-old who made his ATP Tour debut last year after playing five years of US collegiate tennis at Texas Christian University, appeared to have taken control when he broke Fonseca in the third game of the third set, then saved a break point to hold for 3-1 in a game that went to deuce five times.

But Fonseca won the next five games, breaking Fearnley twice and closing out an entertaining contest between the 80th- and 81st-ranked players with a backhand volley winner.

"I was a break down and I was just focused to do my stuff," Fonseca said. "I'm very happy the way that I changed my game."

- Kyrgios tops the bill -

Nick Kyrgios headlines the night session in this combined ATP Masters and WTA 1000 event, where all 32 men's and women's seeds have first-round byes.

Kyrgios comes into his first tournament since the Australian Open hoping he has put wrist and abdominal injuries behind him, and the mercurial Aussie faces a potentially tricky encounter with lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp -- the Dutch player who toppled Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open last year.

Van de Zandschulp went on to beat Rafael Nadal in Davis Cup play in what proved to be the last match of the Spaniard's sensational career.

The winner earns a second-round clash with Novak Djokovic, who is seeded sixth as he chases a record-setting sixth Indian Wells ATP Masters title.

Kyrgios has won two of his three meetings with 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, the exception Djokovic's victory in the 2022 Wimbledon final.

In women's first-round action, Switzerland's Belinda Bencic takes on Germany's Tatjana Maria.

Bencic, the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist in 2021, captured the title in Abu Dhabi in February, her fist title since she returned from maternity leave during which she gave birth to daughter Bella in October.

The 27-year-old, who said at the Australian Open that her main concerns in the early stages of her comeback was to hone her game and boost her ranking, is ahead of schedule, having climbed to 58th in the world.

Britain's Emma Raducanu returns to action for the first time since she was targeted by a stalker during the Dubai WTA 1000 last month.

The 22-year-old former US Open champion said she was determined not to let the incident hinder her career.

"I'm here because I feel a lot better now," said Raducanu, who will face Japan's Moyuka Uchijima, who is making her Indian Wells debut.

J.Hall--SMC