Indian Wells, California: Fourth-seeded Andy Murray tumbled out of the BNP Paribas Open in his opening match Saturday, making 34 unforced errors and failing to convert any of his seven break chances in a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
"I'm not exactly sure why that happened tonight," Murray said. "I played well in practice. I was hitting the ball really well and I felt pretty fresh. I didn't move my best tonight, but it didn't feel like I was moving really badly. My return let me down, and he hardly missed the ball.
"There was obviously a reason behind why I didn't play well and I'll find that reason and address it."
The Scottish player easily beat the 92nd-ranked Garcia-Lopez in their two previous meetings.
Murray's second-round departure removes one of the bigger obstacles for Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked Serb who opened his bid for a third title in the event with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over qualifier Andrey Golubev.
Djokovic, a winner over Rafael Nadal last year in the finale at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and also the 2008 champion, is 23-4 on the slow PlexiPave courts that he said favor his game. The Serbian star will face South Africa's Kevin Anderson in the third round.
Djokovic also beat Golubev, from Kazakhstan, in the second round last year.
Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki, the top seeds in the bottom half of the women's draw, took easy first steps toward a possible meeting in the semifinals.
The second-seeded Sharapova, the 2006 tournament champion, beat Gisella Dulko of Argentina, 6-2, 6-0 minutes to kick off the night session on Stadium Court after 2011 champion and No. 4 seed Wozniacki closed the afternoon schedule with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia. In the third round, Sharapova will play Simona Halep of Romania, and Wozniacki will face Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden.
No. 7 seed Marion Bartoli of France joined the party late Saturday night, but she had to rally from a 5-2 deficit in the final set to beat American Varvara Lepchenko 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Americans John Isner and Andy Roddick won their opening matches, too. Isner, the No. 11 seed, posted a routine 7-5, 6-3 victory over Frederico Gil of Portugal. But Roddick, who is at his lowest ranking (31) since August 2001, needed a long three sets to dispatch Poland's Lukasz Kubot, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Roddick, who will meet No. 8 seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the third round, won the second-set tiebreaker with a forehand that appeared long, but went unchallenged. And he took control of the third set after Kubot needed a visit from an ATP Tour trainer for a back problem after holding serve for a 3-2 lead.
No. 8 seed Mardy Fish and teenager Ryan Harrison also won to make it a productive day for the American contingent.
Berdych got by Sergly Stakhovsky of the Ukraine, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4. Frenchman Gilles Simon moved into the third round after a three-set win over qualifier Dudi Sela of Israel, but No. 16 seed Richard Gasquet of France was beaten by Albert Ramos of Spain, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, after having a match point in the second set. American Robby Ginepri bowed to Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the women's No. 15 seed, opened the day on Stadium Court with an easy 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Johanna Larsson of Sweden. No. 6 Samantha Stosur of Australia, No. 10 Francesca Schiavone of Italy, and No. 16 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia also advanced. But No. 11 Sabiine Lisicki was upset, 6-1, 6-4, by Lourdes Dominguez-Lino of Spain.
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