Heliovaara/Patten ease past Melo/Zverev in Indian Wells opener

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten made a confident start to their bid for a maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown Monday at the BNP Paribas Open.

The second seeds defeated Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-3 in Indian Wells. The reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champions Heliovaara and Patten, who are the current leaders in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, will play Yuki Bhambri and Andre Goransson next.

Bhambri and Goransson moved into the second round with a nail-biting 3-6, 7-6(5), 10-8 win over Sander Gille and Jan Zielinski. Bhambri claimed his maiden ATP 500 title in Dubai earlier this month with Alexei Popyrin, and the Indian will hope to continue that form in the California desert, where he is making his team debut with Sweden’s Goransson.

Former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings Jamie Murray ensured that his 1,000th tour-level doubles match ended in victory. The Briton, teaming with Adam Pavlasek, saved a match point to rally past Ariel Behar and Robert Galloway 2-6, 7-6(5), 12-10. With his Indian Wells first-round win, Murray joined Marcelo Melo (1,079) as the only active players to contest 1,000 doubles matches.

Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Sonego served an upset in the California desert by moving past fifth seeds Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus 6-4, 6-3. The Italians delivered a clinical first-round showing, in which they dropped just four points behind their 34 first serves, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

After seeing off the fifth-seeded team, which triumphed in Auckland in January, Berrettini and Sonego will face the American duo of Ryan Seggerman and Patrik Trhac.