Murray Races Through Opener; Coric Sets Berdych Clash

Andy Murray cruised into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden as he defeated Marcel Granollers 6-4, 7-6(3).
"It was very different conditions to what I have been practicing and playing in in the past five weeks, against a tough, unorthodox player," said Murray. "He's got quite a different game. He's very smart player, as well, intelligent player, and often makes the right decisions. He made it tough for me."
Murray and his wife, Kim Sears, became parents to Sophia Olivia on 7 February, just one week after the Scot finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final. He returned to action last week to lead Great Britain through the first round of the Davis Cup against Japan.
The 28-year-old Murray reached the final of this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in 2009 (l. to Nadal) and notched his 25th win in the desert as he broke serve twice from 10 opportunities to clinch victory in one hour and 41 minutes.
#NextGen star Borna Coric set a third-round clash with sixth seed Tomas Berdych as he dismissed 29th seed Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 6-2 in 87 minutes. The 19-year-old Coric reached his first ATP World Tour final in the first week of the season in Chennai (l. to Wawrinka).
Bernard Tomic will face Milos Raonic after defeating Rajeev Ram 6-4, 7-5. The 23-year-old Tomic has enjoyed a strong start to the season, highlighted by reaching his first ATP World Tour 500 final in Acapulco (l. to Thiem). He will look to get revenge over Raonic for the defeat he suffered when they met in the Brisbane semi-finals in January.
Third seed Stan Wawrinka raced to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Illya Marchenko. The Swiss won 74 per cent of his service points and broke Marchenko three times to prevail in 66 minutes on Stadium 1.

The 30-year-old Wawrinka is already a winner of two ATP World Tour titles this year, lifting the trophies in Chennai (d. Coric) and Dubai (d. Baghdatis).

American wild card Frances Tiafoe almost pulled off the biggest win of his young career against 15^th seed David Goffin. The 18 year old, part of the ATP’s #NextGen campaign, held two match points in the 10^th game of the third set, but ultimately fell 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) in two hours and 14 minutes.
Marin Cilic ended the hopes of another young American, beating qualifier Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-3. 

Source: BNP Paribas Open