Nadal set up a third round tie with Andy Murray

Nadal conceded an early break but hit back to win and said: "I'm very pleased with this win, it means a lot.

"I haven't trained a lot and it's been a long time since I played. I'm always excited to play here in Madrid, the public helps me so much."

It was the Spaniard's first competitive match since the US Open after injury.

He has been suffering from tendinitis and played the match with both knees strapped up.

Elsewhere, world number three Novak Djokovic had a scare before beating Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (7-9) 6-3 6-3.

He now faces Juan Carlos Ferrero who beat Carlos Moya 7-6 (7-2) 6-4.

Djokovic may have won last weekend in Vienna but here he was on the back foot from the start, losing the first set on a tie-break.

The third seed took the next set 6-3 and a break in the eighth game of the third set put him on the way to victory.

Earlier, wildcard Feliciano Lopez dented seventh seed David Ferrer's bid to qualify for the end-of-season Masters Cup with a 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 win.

Ferrer went 4-1 up in the opening set, but Lopez edged it on a tie-break.

The second set was another close affair but Lopez seemed more at ease on the hard court and advanced to the third round.

James Blake's Masters Cup hopes also suffered a setback as he lost to Mario Ancic 6-3 6-4, and David Nalbandian came from a set down to beat ninth seed Thomas Berdych 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

Last year's runner-up Fernando Gonzalez was made to sweat for a 7-6 (13-11) 7-5 win over Nicolas Almagro, earning him a match against Juan Monaco, who knocked out Tommy Haas.

Guillermo Canas's reward for a 6-3 3-6 7-5 win over Agustin Calleri is a third-round tie against Roger Federer.