Australians Alex Bolt and Alexei Popyrin have won through comfortably to the second round at the ATP event in Indian Wells.
Bolt ousted Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3 5-7 6-2 in a little over two hours on Friday, while Popyrin cruised to a 7-6 6-3 win over Spaniard Jaume Munar.
Earlier, Matthew Ebden was eliminated at the hands of Croatian Ivo Karlovic, while John Millman fell to German Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets.
But Aussie Jordan Thompson proved too strong for Argentinian Federico Delbonis, winning 6-4 6-7 (6) 7-6 (5) in a three-hour match.
Stan Wawrinka meanwhile battled back to defeat British qualifier Dan Evans 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3 as he continued his slow climb back up the world rankings.
The world number 40’s powerful serve was the difference as he won 83 per cent of his first service points and fired down seven aces.
The three-times Grand Slam champion saw his ranking go into freefall following knee surgery in late 2017 and finished last year as world No.66.
The Swiss said he was feeling more confident after reaching the title-decider at last month’s Rotterdam Open.
“It was great to make the final there and win those matches against the top players,” Wawrinka said.
“But every tournament is a new tournament. You need to start from the beginning.”
He next plays Hungarian 29th-seed Marton Fucsovics.
Feliciano Lopez came out on the winning side of two tie breakers for a 7-6(3) 7-6(2) victory over Tomas Berdych in his first round match.
His 15 aces and sharper execution in the tie-breakers gave him the edge. The Spaniard will next play 12th seed Karen Khachanov.
American Steve Johnson, German Peter Gojowczyk, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz and Moldova’s Radu Albot were other first-round winners.
with Reuters