JOIN USRoger Federer looked as sharp as ever in his first match following a two-month layoff as he beat Czech Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-3 at the Madrid Open on Tuesday.
The Swiss chose an eye-catching mint-green shirt for his first match since losing to Rafael Nadal at the Indian Wells Masters in March and secured a 12th victory over Stepanek in 14 meetings.
Briton Andy Murray, the third seed, beat Germany’s Florian Mayer 7-6 (13-11), 7-6 (7-3) later in the day.
World No 1 and defending champion Serena Williams continued her serene progress in the women’s battle when she eased past Spanish wild card Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2, 7-5 in the second round.
Chasing a fourth title of the year and the 50th of her career, Williams had too much power for the slightly-built Dominguez Lino, who nonetheless managed to unsettle her illustrious opponent with some clever drop shots and lobs.
Robson, Navarro win
On Monday, Britain’s Laura Robson and Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro conjured up big first-round upset victories when they surprised fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and ninth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur on Monday.
Robson, the World No 41, thumped Radwanska 6-3, 6-1 and 23rd-ranked Suarez Navarro ousted Stosur 7-6, 6-2.
Radwanska was the biggest casualty as second seed Maria Sharapova of Russia eased past Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru 7-5, 6-2 and third-seeded Belarussian Victoria Azarenka had to fight past Russian Anastasia Pavlyuc-henkova 7-6, 7-6.
Sania-Bethanie advance
Fifth seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza advanced to the women’s doubles second round with a three-set win over 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 10-4 over Daniela Hantuchova and Anabel Medina Garrigues.