The last time Carlos Alcaraz saw Lance Davis around the court at the BNP Paribas Open, it was because of a bee swarm that interrupted his match against Alexander Zverev last year.

Davis returned to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden for the coin toss in Alcaraz’s match against Quentin Halys on Saturday. His emergency bee keeping services weren’t needed but Alcaraz began the defense of his repeat with plenty of sting thanks to a 6-4, 6-2 win. The routine looking score was a fair reflection of proceedings at a Stadium 1 bathed in sunshine, despite some tension from Alcaraz.

“It wasn’t easy to control the emotions, to control the nerves,” Alcaraz said in a TV interview. “I was really nervous at the beginning, before the match. I had to be focused to calm down to control that and try to play good tennis at the beginning.” He did.

The lone opportunity for the big serving Halys — playing at a career high 59th in the rankings after a semifinal in Dubai — came when he had a break point at 4-5 in the first set. Alcaraz saved it in style, ripping a forehand after Halys couldn’t apply pressure.

Alcaraz set the tone in the second set by ripping a backhand winner down the line and eased to victory in one hour, seven minutes. He tallied 95 percent of his first serve points and dictated throughout.

Twelve months ago, Alcaraz lost the first set of his opening match against Matteo Arnaldi, although he only dropped one more set the rest of the way. He could be tested much more in the third round, since the resurgent Denis Shapovalov awaits.

Earlier at Stadium 2, Taylor Fritz beat Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante 6-3, 7-5 in his comeback from an abdominal injury. The 2022 BNP Paribas Open winner in got broken when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but quickly recovered.

The competitor that he is, the Californian wants to do well in his home tournament. At the same time, though, he admitted that the injury didn’t lead to the best preparation. “I didn’t want to come out expecting too much,” last year’s US Open finalist said. “I told myself I had to not be too hard on myself. “I had my first hit after taking a week off, on Tuesday. Not ideal prep but I’m not going to forget how to play. I played pretty solid.”

Fritz’s compatriot, Jenson Brooksby, earned back to back wins for the first time since January 2023 when he upset a surging Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada, 6-4, 6-2. He’d missed almost all of the past two seasons due to an elbow injury and suspension for missing drug tests. Auger Aliassime entered Tennis Paradise third in the calendar year standings, only behind Jannik Sinner and Zverev.

Elsewhere, top Brazilian prospect Joao Fonseca saw his Indian Wells debut come to an end when US Open semifinalist Jack Draper won their clash 6-4, 6-0.

Arnaldi got another win over Andrey Rublev. After beating Rublev at the French Open, the Italian upended the seventh seed 6-4, 7-5. Two of Fritz’s fellow Californian’s experienced different fates. Brandon Nakashima topped Rinky Hijikata 7-5, 6-1 but Mackenzie McDonald was ousted by Francisco Cerundolo 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1. Cerundolo next plays Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Botic van de Zandschulp.