Madrid: British No. 1 Andy Murray continued his return to form with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win over Radek Stepanek in the first round of the Madrid Masters on Monday.

The 20-year-old Scot, who missed over three months of the season with a wrist injury, put the Czech to the sword with the help of an impressive array of passing shots to earn himself a second-round match against 15th-seeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela.

Murray, who signalled his return to form by reaching the final in Metz earlier this month, 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 the Czech around the court in the second and raced his way into a 5-0 lead before closing out the match on his own serve.

Qualifier Robby Ginepri came from a set down to defeat Austria’s Jurgen Melzer 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 and book himself a daunting match against defending champion Roger Federer.

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 $2.2 million hard court tournament.

Monaco will now meet Tommy Haas. (Reuters)