Indian Wells: Yuki Bhambri beats Nicolas Mahut to register first Masters 1000 win

India's Yuki Bhambri fought his way to a straight sets win over experienced Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in a men's singles first round match at the BNP Paribas Open.

Bhambri, ranked 110, defeated World No. 101 Mahut 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 41 minutes. It was their first meeting on the ATP tour and both had qualified for the main draw.

It was Bhambri's first Masters 1000 win. Yuki Bhambri first played a Masters 1000 main draw match in 2009 when he was handed a wildcard for Miami. He lost to Argentine Diego Junqueira in straight sets. 

Played on Court 7, Bhambri came from behind in both sets to clinch victory on his first match point opportunity. He trailed the World No 101 Mahut 1-4 in the opening set and 1-3 in the second set before drawing back with convincing and positive attitude which reflected in his ground strokes. Mahut started both sets strongly before fading under deep groundstrokes from Bhambri and lacklustre mistakes including one which handed Bhambri the match. 

The Indian next faces another Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who got a first round bye. Pouille reached a career-high rank of 12 earlier this month.

Bhambri qualified for the main draw after coming through qualifying. He first beat Dennis Novikov before getting past compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan to book a place in the 128-player draw.