Dusan Lajovic defeated Taro Daniel 7–6, 6–4 at the Indian Wells Masters, a ATP Masters 1000 event on hard court in the first round on 8 March 2019. As the pre-match favourite with odds of 1.65, Lajovic delivered the expected result against Daniel, who entered at 2.4. The Serbian secured a tight opening set via tiebreak before consolidating his advantage in the second to advance smoothly. The victory maintained Lajovic's momentum in the California swing and positioned him favourably for the subsequent rounds at Indian Wells.