James Blake cruised past Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-2.
Indian Wells, CA (Sports Network) -
A pair of former top-five players in American James Blake and Argentine David Nalbandian were a pair of easy first-round winners Friday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an ATP World Tour Masters event.
Blake cruised past Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-2 in a mere 55 minutes on the hardcourts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The struggling 30-year- old Blake improved to a pedestrian 6-5 this season.
Nalbandian, who reached as high as third in the world rankings, topped qualifier Stefan Koubek 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in nearly one hour, 15 minutes. He reached the quarterfinals at Copa Telmex earlier this year before pulling out with an injury.
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