11:57 AM

Montanes win sets up Murray clash

Andy Murray will face Albert Montanes in his first match at the Indian Wells Masters 1000 after the Spaniard beat Florent Serra on Thursday.

World number 35 Montanes swept past the Frenchman 6-3 6-0.

Murray, who has a bye as the fourth seed, is yet to confirm whether he has overcome a virus but he practised in Indian Wells on Thursday.

On Monday, the Scot told his website: "I'm headed off to the States. Not 100% yet, but feeling better for sure."

Murray, 21, fell ill at the quarter-final stage of the Dubai Open two weeks ago and then pulled out of Great Britain's Davis Cup tie against Ukraine, saying the virus had hit him harder than any illness during his career.

The British number one has met Montanes once before, beating him in straight sets on his way to the Qatar title in January.

If he does take to the court, Murray could face Roger Federer in the semi-finals as they have been drawn in the same half.

Should he come through his first match, the seedings suggest Murray would come up against Paul-Henri Mathieu, Tommy Robredo and Gilles Simon before facing Federer in the last four.

Federer, a three-times champion at Indian Wells, has lost to the British star five times in seven career meetings, including their last three encounters.

The Swiss, who announced on Thursday that he is to become a father, is also keen to renew his rivalry with Rafael Nadal after an epic five-set defeat in the Australian Open final last month.

"I love playing matches against him, especially those five-setters, seeing if I can hang with him physically without a problem," said Federer, who will first take on Marc Gicquel after the Frenchman beat Simone Bolelli 7-5 6-3 on Thursday.

"He's the greatest challenger I've ever had. I am really motivated because I don't know how much better he can play.

"I don't know how much better I can play, but I am right there and he's playing the tennis of his life."

Federer has been sidelined by a back injury since losing to Nadal in Australia, and he arrives in California without a new coach despite working with Australian Darren Cahill, former mentor of Andre Agassi, in Dubai.

"He said the travel was tough for him," said Federer. "He took the decision for me."

All the top players are involved at Indian Wells, with world number one Nadal the top seed and last year's champion, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, seeded third.

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt got off to a winning start on Thursday as he beat Jan Hernych 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

Indian Wells is the first event in the revamped Masters Series, now known as the Masters 1000 as each of the nine elite tournaments offers 1,000 ranking points to the winner.

Victory in a Grand Slam tournament earns a player 2,000 points, while regular ATP events carry either 500 or 250 points for the winner.

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