With the sliding silver roof open on Manolo Santana court at the Magic Box arena, the Swiss barely broke sweat against the German world number 46 in cloudy weather with sunny spells.
Becker mounted a mini fightback to save two match points at 6-5 down in the second set and one more in the tiebreak but sent a backhand wide on the next point to hand Federer victory.
“The moment the match started I felt great,” Federer, who won the first point of the match on his serve with a powerful smash, said at a news conference.
“I was hitting the ball fine and this centre court just feels right to me.
“I’ve obviously never lost on this court so that gives me confidence and I think that showed today in my game.”
The 28-year-old has made the final in three of the past four years, also winning in 2006, but has not claimed a title since lifting his 16th grand slam at the Australian Open in January.
His win in Madrid last year, adding to his title in 2006, was the springboard for his first Roland Garros crown and a sixth Wimbledon victory and he said he felt even better physically this year after not playing much in the past months.
“The (overall) feeling maybe last year was a little bit better but then again after today’s match I feel great,” he said.
Even if he failed to progress to the later stages in Madrid, he said he would still have plenty of time to prepare for the French Open, which starts on May 23.
“I’m going to put in some hard work and can practice with tons of other top players which is going to make me really tough for Paris,” he said.
Next up is either Leonardo Mayer (ARG) or Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI).
Date: 11.05.2010, Source: RF Offcial & Reuters
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