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Federer, Serena safely through to 3rd round
Roger Federer made a winning return after a two-month absence from the court as he cruised to 6-3, 6-3 win over Radek Stepanek to move into the third round of the Madrid Open on Tuesday.
Roger Federer made a winning return after a two-month absence from the court as he cruised to 6-3, 6-3 win over Radek Stepanek to move into the third round of the Madrid Open on Tuesday.
A solitary break in the fourth game was enough for the Swiss to take the first-set 6-3.
And he looked set to storm through the second as he served for the match with a double break at 5-2 in the second.
However, Stepanek then showed some resistance to break the 17-time Grand Slam champion for the only time in the match.
The Czech's fightback didn't last long though as Federer broke again in the very next game to seal a third round tie against either Kei Nishikori or Viktor Troicki.
Earlier, Serbian World No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic became the first seed in the men's event to fall on Tuesday morning as he was beaten by clay court specialist Juan Monaco 7-5, 6-3.
And eighth seed Richard Gasquet also suffered an early exit as he was beaten 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 by Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver.
World No.15 Stanislaw Wawrinka however continued his fine form after winning the Portugal Open last week with a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 win over Romanian qualifier Marius Copil.
In the women's event World No.1 Serena Williams eased into the third round with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino.
The American had struggled early on in her first-round match against Kazak qualifier Yulia Puntitseva, but began much brighter as she broke Dominguez Lino straight away on her way to winning the first set 6-2.
The second set started in a similar vein as Williams seized a 2-0 lead, but Dominguez Lino fought back bravely to level matters at 2-2 before the next seven games went with serve.
However, the World No. 47 finally crumbled when serving to stay in the match at 5-6 as Williams broke to love to seal victory.
And 14th seed Marion Bartoli overcame a twisted ankle during the second set of her match against Spaniard Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor to progress 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
