After a first round bye Richard had to wait until Sunday to play his first match in Indian Wells. Under the hot Californian sun he defeated Pablo Cuevas from Uruguay 7-5 6-3.
In the frist set, which both players dominated on their serves, Richard had to save a breakpoint in the fifth game. When he himself put more pressure on Cuevas towards the end of the set, he was able to break for 7-5. He stayed strong and broke Cuevas again at the start of the second set. From that moment on, the outcome was never in doubt. Richard was very solid on serve, 73 % of first serves in, scoring 95 % of the points. His next oppponent is either Jürgen Melzer or his compatriot Julien Bennetau, with whom Richard will face the Swiss pair Federer/Wawrinka in the next round of the doubles competition.
