Madrid Open: Wawrinka back to winning ways after victory over Sousa

World No 9 Stan Wawrinka beat lucky loser Joao Sousa 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 in a tricky two-setter in his first outing at the Madrid Open on Tuesday night as he seeks form ahead of Roland Garros.

The former Australian Open champion needed a tie-break to take the first from the Portuguese world No 59 after the pair cancelled out each other's solitary service breaks at the Magic Box.

A single break in the second was enough for the Swiss No 2 to take victory after a touch over 90 minutes in his first major outing since revealing on social media he'd split from his wife. 

World No 9 Stan Wawrinka beat lucky loser Joao Sousa 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 on clay in Madrid on Tuesday

The Swiss world No 9 is looking to find form on clay ahead of the French Open at Roland Garros

Wawrinka won a tie-break in the first and a solitary break in the second to move through to the third round

The public announcement followed an out-of-sorts performance against Grigor Dimitrov in Monte Carlo that saw him battered 6-1 6-2 in his first clay court tournament of the season.

That loss followed similar disappointments at Indian Wells where he lost in the first round and a second round defeat in Miami after an unsuccessful bid to defend his title in Melbourne.

Fifth seed Canadian Milos Raonic also progressed in his round two match taking care of Juan Monaco in a far more straightforward 6-3 6-4.

In round one games on Tuesday, France's Richard Gasquet beat Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-3 6-4 while Philipp Kohlschreiber set up a date with Andy Murray with a 6-1 6-4 win over Alejandro Falla.

Murray beat the German to win his first ever clay-court tour title on Monday in three sets and after more than more than three hours at the BMW Open in Munich.

Canadian Milos Raonic moved through his round two match against Juan Monaco with a 6-3 6-4 win

Andy Murray practices in Madrid after winning his first clay-court tour title in Munich on Monday

Other seeds to go through from the first round were Roberto Bautista (14), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12), Gael Monfils (13) and Grigor Dimitrov (10). 

Fernando Verdasco needed three sets to overcome fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 4-6 6-2 6-3 while Australian Nick Kyrgios's 6-2 6-3 win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver earned him a meeting with Roger Federer on Wednesday.