Fish Falls to Harrison in Comeback at Indian Wells

The first round of the men’s draw at the BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells got underway on Thursday afternoon as one of the most popular players made his way back onto the court for the first time since August of 2013.

Mardy Fish was ranked as high as number seven in the world before heart problems forced him to miss significant time since the 2013 campaign.

Fish battled and hung tough against fellow American Ryan Harrison through three sets, but was just unable to finish it off. Harrison would come out victorious, saving two match points and finishing the breaker with an ace for a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3) victory.

In battling through three sets and two hours and 36 minutes, Fish only converted on three of his 15 break point opportunities and failed to capitalize on two match point chances.

Despite that, the 33-year-old was glad to be out on the court and competing once again.

“It felt great to be out there,” Fish said. “Those are the situations that you work hard to put yourself into. This is such a great event. I have great memories from 2008 here, on that court, so it felt fantastic to be out there. I’ve worked really hard to get back in shape so I don’t have any issues during a match or after a match. I worked extremely hard to put myself in the best position not to worry about things when I’m out there.”

Harrison had only good things to say about his opponent.

“He’s a great athlete,” said Harrison. “He’s been out for awhile, but he can still come out and play a really good match. I think it was nervy from both of us at times, but I’m just happy to be through.”

Harrison, a wild card, will meet fifth-seed Kei Nishikori in the second-round in a rematch of the Memphis Open final a couple of weeks ago.

Another American wild card, Tim Smyczek, also came out on top on Thursday. Smyczek disposed of Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-3, 7-6(4). Up next for Smyczek will be 26th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.

Croat Ivan Dodig broke Brazalian Joao Sousa four times to roll 6-3, 7-5, setting up a matchup with Spaniard David Ferrer. Argentina’s Juan Monaco survived a three-set match with Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Monaco will play the 10th-seeded Marin Cilic in the second-round as Cilic makes his 2015 debut.

Day One on the men’s side saw a couple of small upsets: Serbia’s Viktor Troicki was outdone by Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-4; James Duckworth ousted Dominic Thiem 7-6(5), 6-1; and Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain edged Australia’s Sam Groth 7-6(5), 7-6(6).

Earlier in the day, Canadian Vasek Pospisil advanced after Mikhail Kukushkin retired down 4-6, 2-4.

First-round action from Indian Wells continues today as a number of Americans, including Donald Young, Jack Sock and Sam Querrey, all look to push through into the second-round.

Click here to follow the day’s action.