Highly touted Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca rallied from a break down in the third set to beat Britain's Jacob Fearnley 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 on his Indian Wells debut on Thursday while Nick Kyrgios was in tears as he retired injured from his first-round match.
Fonseca cruised through the first set before Fearnley found his groove in the second to level the match on a windy day in the California desert.
Fearnley raced out to a 3-1 lead in the third before Fonseca stepped up his shotmaking to reel off the final five games and wrapped up the win in style with a dazzling lunge volley at the net on match point.
"It's a pleasure being here on centre court at Indian Wells. It's a dream," said Fonseca, who received a wildcard into the tournament.
"People call it the fifth Grand Slam and I can understand why. It's literally a paradise. So I am really grateful. Today was pretty difficult, very windy and I got through so I'm very happy."
There has been immense hype around the 18-year-old since he beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets at the Australian Open for his first win over a top-10 opponent and won his first ATP Tour title in Buenos Aires last month.
Fonseca, ranked 80th in the world, enjoyed the vocal support of the boisterous Brazilian fans on hand for the match at the ATP 1000 event.
"Everywhere I go there are some Brazilians watching and cheering for me," he said.
Next up for Fonseca is another Briton, 13th seed Jack Draper.
Former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios wiped away tears before pulling the plug on his match with Botic van de Zandschulp due to a wrist injury while trailing 7-6(7), 3-0.
The Australian appeared to aggravate his surgically repaired right wrist during the second game of the second set and called for the physios during the next changeover before shaking hands with his opponent.
The loss to the Dutch lucky loser deprives fans of the chance to see Kyrgios play Novak Djokovic in the second round on Saturday.
Earlier, American Jenson Brooksby overcame a nightmare start to defeat France's Benjamin Bonzi 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 for his first ATP Tour win in two years.
Brooksby served a 13-month suspension for missing three drugs tests and was hampered by injury after his ban ended.
He made his return to tennis at this year's Australian Open, where he lost in straight sets to compatriot Taylor Fritz in the first round.
Brooksby will next face 17th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada.
RADUCANU OUT
Emma Raducanu's struggles continued as the former U.S. Open champion had no answers to the solid play of Japan's Moyuka Uchijima, who prevailed 6-3, 6-2 amid gusting winds.
Raducanu made the third round of the Australian Open in January but has since suffered first-round exits in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
During her second-round match in Dubai last month, the 22-year-old Briton was in tears after noticing a stalker was in the crowd during the first set and ultimately lost to Karolina Muchova.
Raducanu, who was playing her first match under coach Vladimir Platenik, said she felt good mentally.
"I didn't have what happened in Dubai in my head at all today," she told reporters.
"If anything, like a bit of a lack of preparation on the tennis court, playing someone who played pretty good in these conditions. Extremely awkward in the wind here."
Uchijima will meet third seed Coco Gauff in the second round on Friday.
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