Andy Murray missed the recent David Cup clash with Ukraine

Roger Federer made a sucessful return from a back injury to beat Frenchman Marc Gicquel 7-6 6-4 at Indian Wells.

The world number two has been out of action since the Australian Open at the beginning of February but showed little sign of rustiness.

He hit 12 aces and won 92% of his first serve points.

Andy Murray also continued his return from illness with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Albert Montanes but it was a tough game for the Scot.

The British number one, who missed the recent Davis Cup defeat to Ukraine because of a virus, came back from a break down to take the first set.

The world number four then showed his vast array of shots to comfortably win the second against his Spanish rival.

Murray, 21, will now face Paul-Henri Mathieu in round three after the Frenchman beat Italy's Potito Starace.

Murray said he was not at his best against Montanes but was delighted with his movement.

I thought it was the best I have moved in quite a while," he said.

"I wasn't hitting the ball particularly well, but I moved well and after I went down a break in the first set I did well to come back."

Murray said he was too passive early on.

"If you watched the first six, seven games of the match, I was hitting a lot of the balls short and letting him dictate the rallies," he said.

"They're just the little things that change, but as the match goes on, you start to get better and start to relax and play better."

Federer will now face big-hitting Ivo Karlovic in the third round after the Croat beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4 6-2.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version