Kiefer finally tastes Madrid success with first match win

Kiefer, ranked 112 as he makes a comeback from a year of wrist and knee injuries, previously played in the Spanish capital in 2005, losing to Karol Beck,

   In 2002 at the inaugural edition,he never got out of qualifying rounds. Kiefer has limited exposure in Spain, having played just three previous ATP-level events in the country, two of them in 2001.  The 30-year-old who earned a Beijing semi-final last month, advanced into a second-round encounter with 16th seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.

 Wawrinka failed to follow up on his momentum after reaching Sunday's  final in Vienna against world number three Novak Djokovic.

 Croatian Ivo Karlovic brought mountain-climbing Russian Marat Safin back down to earth as the tallest man in tennis produced a straightforward 6-3, 6-4 first-round rout.

 It took just 57 minutes for the Croatian who won the weekend Stockholm Open who take victory in a ninth match from his last ten after also reaching the Tokyo semis.

 Safin, who joined a September Russian expedition for the opening stages of a climb of the sixth-tallest mountain in the world in Tibet, may be pondering his loss of altitude on court.

 Huge-hitting Karlovic ended the match with his 17th ace, running his season total to 1,152, well short of the all-time best of 1,477 set by compatriot Goran Ivanisevic in 1996.

 Karlovic, who next faces fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko in the second round, stands alongside tournament top seed Roger Federer as the only man to have won three titles this season on different surfaces (clay, grass and indoor).

 The winning effort was enough to demoralise Safin, a former number one now standing 36th after recovering over the past few season from the effects of a knee injury.

 "I just want to finish this season and start slowly preparing for 2008," said Safin.

 Safin has struggled in 2007 at the top level, never getting past the second round at eight Masters events, losing four times in opening contests.

 The 27-year-old won Madrid in 2004, then backed it up a fortnight later by lifting the Paris Bercy Masters.

 Federer was opening play later in the second round after a bye, competing for the first time on the ATP since winning a fourth straight US Open.

 The Swiss was facing qualifier Robby Ginepri after having won his last 38 against Americans.

 Spain's Nicolas Almagro advanced into the second round with a win over veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 6-4.