Two rising stars on the ATP circuit, Italian Fabio Fognini and Japan’s Kei Nishikori, posted wins in the first round of qualifying on Tuesday in Indian Wells to keep their Pacific Life Open main draw bids alive.

Fognini, seeded third in the qualifying draw, turned around a lackluster start as he fought from down a set and a break to defeat American Sam Warburg, 0-6, 7-6(2), 6-2. He broke Warburg’s serve for the fourth time to seal the victory in exactly two hours.

Nishikori needed two hours and 11 minutes to complete the 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Brit Alex Bogdanovic in a match that featured a combined 13 breaks of serve. Nishikori failed to serve out the match on his first attempt, but won the next two games to close the deal.

The 20-year-old Fognini enjoyed a successful stretch last month on clay in Latin American, reaching his first career ATP quarterfinal in Vina del Mar and semifinal in Costa do Sauipe. The 18-year-old Nishikori stunned James Blake in the Delray Beach final to clinch the title in just his sixth career ATP tournament.

South African Kevin Anderson, who picked up his first ATP match wins last week en route to a surprise run to the Las Vegas final, continued his success as he defeated Greece's Konstantinos Economidis, 6-4, 6-3.

Australians Peter Luczak and Chris Guccione, the top two seeds in the qualifying draw, bowed out in early Tuesday action. No. 1 Luczak fell to South African Wesley Moodie 7-6(5), 6-4, and No. 2 Guccione followed with a 7-6(3), 6-3 loss to American Brendan Evans.

Former Top 20 players Dominik Hrbaty and Max Mirnyi achieved mixed results. Hrbaty, making his first appearance since undergoing arthroscopic surgery for his elbow last September, managed to win just one game against American Wayne Odesnik. Mirnyi, who has fallen a No. 206 ranking, dug deep to defeat Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4 in two hours and 32 minutes.

Americans Bobby Reynolds and Robert Kendrick will face off for a main draw spot after defeating Frenchman Laurent Recouderc and Slovak Ivo Klec, respectively. Other Americans winners included Scoville Jenkins, who dismissed No. 4 seed Mischa Zverev in three sets, and wild card Ryan Sweeting, a 7-6(8), 6-2 winner over Aussie Alun Jones.

Meanwhile, Amer Delic and Kevin Kim came up short in three-set losses to German Dominik Meffert and France’s Mathieu Montcourt.