Sloane Stephens is ranked No. 747.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- American Mardy Fish, the BNP Paribas Open runner-up in 2008, beat Michael Berrer of Germany, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 in a first-round match Thursday at the Tennis Garden.

Fish, 28, sidelined most of the second half of last season due to a fractured rib and left knee surgery, will face No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who won that 2008 final in three sets and is 3-0 against him.

Earlier in the day Melanie Oudin, at No. 41 the highest-ranked American in the women's draw, made another quick exit, losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 to Roberta Vinci of Italy in their first-round match.

The 18-year-old Oudin, a quarter-finalist at last year's U.S. Open, had reached at least the quarter-finals in her two most recent events. This was her second straight first-round loss here.

Another young American did reach the winner's circle, though. Sloane Stephens, one of two 16-year-olds in the BNP Paribas Open field, celebrated her first match on the main WTA Tour with a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) triumph over Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic.

Stephens, who at No. 747 is the lowest-ranked player to win a main draw match at this event, led 5-2 in the second set and had match point on serve in the ninth game, then had to rally from 3-6 down in the second-set tiebreaker.

"I wasn't getting nervous," Stephens said. "She started playing a lot more. Before, she was hitting a lot of balls off the court and I was waiting for the error. She made me play at the end."

Stephens said she'll remember hitting an ace down the middle of the court to get to 6-all in the second-set tiebreaker. She couldn't recall the final shot of the match, though, but said "it was a good moment."

Fellow American Shenay Perry didn't fare as well as Stephens, losing to Karolina Sprem, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Others moving into the second round were Julia Goerges of Germany, Julie Coin of France, Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, Sara Errani of Italy, Petra Martic of Croatia and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic.

In the men's draw, former No. 1 Carlos Moya, 33, led the advance to the second round, though the Spaniard made more than 50 unforced errors and struggled mightily to beat American qualifier Tim Smyczek, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5).

Others advancing in early matches were Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Florent Serra, Fabio Fognini of Italy, Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, Ramon Delgado of Paraguay, Philipp Petzschner of Germany, Kevin Anderson of South Africa, Brian Dabul of Argentina, Mario Ancic of Croatia, Daniel Koellerer of Austria, Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.

The seeded women will begin play Friday after first round byes, with No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark facing American Vania King in the opening match of the day.

Friday night will be highlighted by the Hit for Haiti charity fund raiser. In that, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras will play Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi in one doubles match and Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport will play Justine Henin and Martina Navratilova. The event, which also will feature singer Tony Bennett, is a sellout at the 16,100-seat Tennis Garden and the goal is to raise US$1 million for victims of the earthquake.