Former champ Hewitt wins opener at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, California (AP) -- Two-time former champion Lleyton Hewitt, unseeded at the BNP Paribas Open for the first time in a decade, won his opener against Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Thursday.

Hewitt improved to 6-0 against Hernych. The Australian won the last four points to claim the tiebreaker 7-3. In the second, he broke in the fifth game and in the last.

Hewitt won Indian Wells in 2002 and 2003 when he was ranked No. 1, and lost to Roger Federer in the 2005 final.

Now ranked 77th, Hewitt said he was still trying to regain his fitness after having surgery on his left hip last August.

"The ranking doesn't bother me at all," said Hewitt, who last year saw his streak of title-winning seasons end at 10 and finished out of the top 25 for the first time since his rookie season of 1998.

"There's been a lot of travel the last few months and it hasn't been easy on the body. I wasn't sure what to expect out there [against Hernych]. I knew when I decided to have it done that it was going to take quite some time to get as close as I'm going to get to 100 percent."

Next up will be Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who received a first-round bye as the 17th seed.

Gonzalez beat Hewitt in five sets at the Australian Open and has won four of their six contests.

Federer, not the top seed for the first time since 2003, will open against Marc Gicquel of France, who beat Simone Bolelli of Italy 7-5, 6-3.

Federer announced on his Web site that he and girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec were expecting their first child this summer.

In the women's draw, Sania Mirza of India overcame Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 17-year-old from Moscow, defeated Marta Domachowska of Poland 6-1, 6-3 and will face second-seeded Jelena Jankovic.

Fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic, the defending champion, will meet Belarus qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova.

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