James Blake has been always fared well, when it comes to playing on Stadium Court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, but he struggled a bit on Friday, as he was contesting in a first-round match at the BNP Paribas Open. After recovering well after the initial debacle, he easily defeated Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3 6-2.

After the match, Blake said, “I feel like I've been playing pretty well.” He further added, “I felt comfortable out there today. For me to take time away from him like I do when I'm playing well, it was a good sign. You keep getting better. I know my ranking’s dropped, but I'm not that worried about it.”

Blake was a finalist in 2006 at the BNP Paribas Open. Now, he will face 12th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer. On his chances in the forthcoming match, Blake said “I know on any given day and in any tournament if I'm not seeded and if I'm ranked real low, I'm assuming a lot of the higher seeds aren't really thrilled to be playing me early on in a tournament because I feel like I do still have the ability to compete with the top guys.”

Former World No. 3 David Nalbandian, also earned a victory in his first-round match, as he beat Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek 6-2, 7-6(2) in a match that lasted for one hour and 14 minutes.

The other winners of the day were, Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu, who defeated Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-1 6-2;  German Simon Greul defeated 12th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils with a 7-6(6) 7-6(7) scoreline.