Sam Groth's miserable tennis season has continued with his seventh first-round loss in eight tournaments this year.
Coming off his loss to John Isner in last weekend's Davis Cup defeat by the US, world No.77 Groth fell 6-4 6-3 to Argentina's Leonardo Mayer at the Indian Wells Masters on Thursday (Friday AEDT).
Groth's sole win in 2016 remains his opening-round win over Adrian Mannarino at the Australian Open.
American Ryan Harrison beat Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in their first-round match.
Earlier, teenagers Frances Tiafoe and Brona Coric grabbed the centre-court spotlight.
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Tiafoe outlasted Taylor Fritz 3-6 6-2 3-6 in a battle of 18-year-old Americans, and Coric, a 19-year-old Croatian, beat Lucas Pouille of France 6-2 7-5.
Those two matches helped kick off the opening day for the men, with Nicolas Mahut of France and Robin Haase of the Netherlands also advancing. Mahut beat qualifier Renzo Olivo of Argentina 6-2 6-4 and Haase toppled Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-3 6-4.
