started the final leg of his long 2008 season as he pegged back exuberant Czech Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) to advance into the third round of the Madrid Masters on Wednesday. The Swiss second seed returned successfully to the ATP after a three-week pause as he tests the waters, still planning to determine his remaining schedule week by week straight through the November Masters Cup in Shanghai. “I'm happy to be back on tour, I played Davis Cup indoors and that gave me some matches. but I had two or three weeks off,” said Federer, the 2006 Madrid winner and last year's losing finalist. Federer will now prepare for a Thursday night encounter with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The Australian Open finalist from France continued to erase his reputation as the forgotten man of 2008 with a Wednesday fightback victory, coming from 3-5 down in the final set to beat Spaniard Marcel Granollers 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Number three Novak Djokovic escaped against Romanian Victor Hanescu, who retired with a groin injury to hand over a 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (10-8), 3-1 victory to the Serb. Ninth seed Juan Del Potro also advanced without completing his second-round match as Finn Jarkko Nieminen quit while trailing 6-2, 4-2 with a thigh injury picked up last week in a run to the Stockholm semifinals. Seventh seed David Nalbandian began his title defence with a test before overcoming Czech Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1. Croatian 14th seed Ivo Karlovic fired 24 aces as he beat Swede Robin Soderling 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (10-8) to advance. American qualifier Robby Ginepri shocked Russian fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision. The number 63 had a history in Madrid, reaching the semi-finals in 2005 and next faces Frenchman Gilles Simon. Andy Roddick had little trouble getting past Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4. Sixth-ranked David Ferrer soon followed Davydenko out of the tournament after losing to Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 7-6 (4) in an all-Spanish match. Gael Monfils also advanced after eliminating 2006 finalist Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6,3, 6-4, and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland rallied to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5). Venus advances Venus Williams began her bid to re-capture the Zurich Open title she last won in 1999 by defeating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 6-4 here on Wednesday. Williams will next play Francesca Schiavone of Italy, who beat Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-3, 7-5. In a first round match, Italy's Flavia Pennetta took just 54 minutes to overwhelm Russian Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-1. Except for her 6-1, 6-0 loss to Dinara Safina in Tokyo last month, it is Petrova's heaviest defeat since she was beaten 6-1, 6-1 by Lindsay Davenport in Los Angeles in July 2004. Pennetta will now meet Jelena Jankovic. In another first round match, Swedish qualifier Sofia Arvidsson rallied to defeat Austrian left-hander Sybille Bammer 0-6, 7-5, 6
