Grigor Dimitrov avoided a first-round slip-up against home favourite Pablo Carreno Busta in Madrid as he recorded a comfortable 6-2 6-4 victory on Monday.
The 12th seed had few problems overcoming a Spanish opponent who has suffered early exits in both Barcelona and Oeiras at the start of the clay-court season.
Dimitrov is in fine form, having won his third ATP title in Bucharest a week ago by beating Lukas Rosol in straight sets, and continued in this manner by breaking twice in the first set.
As the Bulgarian took his foot off the gas in the second, Carreno Busta got four games on the board, but Dimitrov still had plenty left in the tank when he secured the victory in just over an hour.
Dimitrov beat Novak Djokovic at this tournament last year and will be eyeing another top-10 scalp to enhance his growing reputation, with Tomas Berdych and Rafael Nadal both on his side of the draw.
Joe Fish
