Milos Raonic says his ankle responded well to his first match since the Australian Open.
"Ankle is fine," he said after winning a tight opening-round match over Edouard Roger-Vasselin in Indian Wells, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (2). "I think everything else, just a little bit tough."
A sprained ankle and partially torn tendon continued to bother Raonic until a few days ago, leaving him unable to practice properly before the tournament.
"I have pretty much yet to play a match healthy this year, so this was pretty much a first one," he said. "It's just tough only starting really to play points three days ago, doing any movement on court. So to get a rhythm was difficult."
But after flaring up consistently over the past few weeks, the injury has finally begun to improve.
"I was still having pain," he said. "Then I got cleared, and sort of the pain has gone away. Just from not being able to use it I get a little bit of soreness, but it's not nearly the same kind of pain."