Roger Federer returned from a two-month break to win his first match at the Madrid Masters 6-3 6-2 against Radek Stepanek this afternoon.
The former world number one broke his opponent from the Czech Republic at the first time of asking. From then on Federer dictated the clash with a string of forehand winners as he served out to open up a one-set advantage.
It proved to be even more straightforward for the defending champion in the second set. He broke Stepanek on two separate occasions and despite having surrendered one of those breaks, he eventually eased through into round three in the Spanish capital.
He will now take on either Kei Nishikori or Viktor Troicki for a place in the last 16.
