Federer downs Tiafoe in Miami opener

Roger Federer has won his opening match at the Miami Open, returning to the tournament after a two-year absence and beating 19-year-old American qualifier Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (2) 6-3.

Federer took the lead with a flawless tiebreaker after both players held easily throughout the first set, and Tiafoe then became more inconsistent with his groundstrokes.

The resurgent Federer won Key Biscayne in 2005 and 2006, and is among the favourites this year.

He is 14-1 in 2017, including his 18th grand slam title at the Australian Open and a title at Indian Wells last week.

Fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, seeded No.1 in an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time, easily won his opening match against Horacio Zeballos, 6-3 6-4.

Wawrinka lost only 13 points in his 10 service games in the match which lasted 65 minutes.

“I’m really happy with the match today,” the Indian Wells finalist Wawrinka told reporters.

“It’s quite tough conditions, raining and really windy today. It’s really windy on the court, so it’s never easy.”

Eighth seed David Goffin and 10th seed Tomas Berdych also advanced.

Belgium’s Goffin stopped Darian King of Barbados 7-5 6-1 and Czech Berdych cruised past Russia’s Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-2.