Murray Too Strong for Stepanek

Andy Murray continued his impressive comeback from injury today with a breezy 6-4, 6-1 win over Radek Stepanek in the first round of the Madrid Masters.

The British No1, who missed over three months of the season with a strained wrist, saw off Stapanek with the help of an impressive array of passing shots to earn himself a second-round match against the Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela, who is seeded No15.

Murray signaled his renewed vigour by reaching the final in Metz earlier this month and made a sharp start, despite spurning three break points in the second game. He looked steady on his own serve and, after putting Stepanek under heavy pressure, he broke in the 10th to take the first set 6-4.

He continued to stretch his opponent around the court in the second and raced his way into a 5-0 lead before closing out the match on his own serve. Should Murray defeat Chela, who received a bye into the second round, then his likely opponent in the third is the No2 seed Rafael Nadal.

Elsewhere, the 25-year-old American qualifier Robby Ginepri came from a set down to defeat Austria's Jurgen Melzer 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 and book himself a match against defending champion Roger Federer. Ginepri, who lost to Federer in straight sets in the quarter-finals of last year's tournament, battled his way back from a stuttering start to edge the second set on a tie-break and maintain his 100% record against Melzer.

Juan Monaco also recovered from a set down to win through 6-7, 6-0, 6-4 against Russia's Igor Andreev on his debut in the Madrid Masters. Monaco will now meet 11th-seeded German Tommy Haas in the second round.

Another Argentine, wild card Juan Martin del Potro, wrapped up a high-speed 7-6, 6-1 victory over Italy's Potito Starace, while Croatia's Mario Ancic cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 win over Marc Giquel of France.

Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek came through 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to claim his first win in three attempts against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.