BNP Paribas Open Matches To Watch on Day 1

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It's the first day of the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open, and while the giants of the game don't take the court until the second round, that won't stop some very exciting tennis from being played today. 

Throughout the next week-and-a-half, we'll be showcasing several matches to watch every day as Indian Wells once again takes center stage.

ATP

Donald Young (USA) vs. Potito Starace (Italy) - Young qualified for this slot with a win yesterday, and faces the 29-year-old Starace, a former Top 30 player now sitting 47th in the world with a 7-6 record to start 2011. Starace is on a three-match losing streak, and doesn't have much of a track record at Indian Wells, with an all-time record of 1-5. He's never faced the 21-year-old Young, ranked 143rd in the world. 

Young's had plenty of qualifying success this year, winning thrice at the Ausralian Open and thrice at Delray Beach, only to lose in those tournaments' first rounds. It was here three years ago that an 18-year-old Young made the third round before falling to Rafael Nadal. The winner draws Andy Murray in the second round.

Ryan Sweeting (USA) vs. Marcel Granollers (Spain) - Sweeting whipped Samuel Groth to reach the main draw in his quest to break through to the top 100 to stay (he's currently 105th). The 23-year-old is coming off a great run to the quarterfinals at Delray Beach, upsetting Sam Querrey in the fourth round. This is his second time in the main draw at Indian Wells, after reaching the second round in 2009. He'll face the 50th-ranked Granollers for the first time. Granollers has struggled out of the gate in 2011 at 2-5, and this is only his second time at Indian Wells.

Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) vs. Marinko Matosevic  (Australia) - All eyes will be on the radar gun every time Karlovic launches a serve after he broke Andy Roddick's record last week with the fastest of all time, a blazing 156-mile per hour number during Croatia's Davis Cup tie with Germany.  The tallest man on tour beat Roddick's record by one mile per hour (1.6 kph). 

He seems on the track back from a rough Achilles Surgery that has seen him nose dive to No. 239 in the world.  He'll take on Australia's phonetically-gifted Marinko Matosevic, ranked 131st in the world, but still seeking his first win of 2011. He won three qualifying rounds at Delray Beach, then fell to Dudi Sela in three in the first round.

Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) vs. Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) - Easily the best match-up of Day 1, Del Potro might be ranked No. 90, but he's definitely not playing like No. 90. The former Grand Slam champion is 13-4 in his comeback season, coming off a title at Delray Beach that follows two straight semifinal appearances and losses to Top 10 players.  

He faces 67th-ranked Radek Stepanek, who beat Del Potro twice in 2009, but at age 32 is heading toward dinosaur status on the ATP tour. Despite that, he's 6-5 in 2011, and reached the semifinals at Brisbane to start the year.

WTA 
Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) vs. Christina McHale (USA) - The tallest woman on tour, the six-foot, three-inch Amanmuradova, has maintained her ranking in the top 70 ever since shocking then-No. 2 Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round at Cincinnati last summer. From Cincinnati on, she went 13-7 to finish the year 27-26. She's only 2-5 to start 2011, but her big game always makes her a threat. The 18-year-old McHale is after a spot in the Top 100 (currently ranked 112th), and has lost seven of her first 10 matches in 2011.  

Dinara Safina (Russia) vs. Arantxa Parra Santonja (Spain) - It's not often you get to see a former world No. 1 right off the bat, but that's what fans will see when Safina takes the court. She is struggling again this year, just 1-4 to date, while opponent Parra Santonja, No. 60, is 5-6. The Spaniard beat Safina in their only matchup, which came at Wimbledon in 2004. Safina needs to make some waves here if she's to get back in the Top 100 anytime soon. She's been a quarterfinalist twice, in 2006 and 2009.

Jie Zheng (China) vs. Sofia Arvidsson (Sweden) - The 46th-ranked Zheng made a lot of fans here a year ago with her surprising trip to the quarterfinals, highlighted by a second-round upset of Maria Sharapova.  The Swedish women don't have the same historical pedigree of their men (Borg, Soderling), but Arvidsson still has  a whole lot more wins than losses, and reached the second round here in 2008.

Elena Baltacha (Great Britain) vs. Roberta Vinci (Italy) - It's a rematch for these two from the sweet 16 at Hobart, where Vinci grabbed a 6-3, 6-4 win. The 37th-ranked Italian is 7-6 to start the year, and playing at a high level of late, reaching the semifinals at Pattaya City. Once a great hope of the United Kingdom, the 27-year-old Baltacha has slid back to 74th in the world and still doesn't have a career singles title to her name.

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