Roger Federer says he would have “always felt regrets” not returning to clay this year after marking his three-year absence from the surface with a rapid win over France’s Richard Gasquet at the Madrid Open.

The Swiss great, 37, needed just 53 minutes to win 6-2 6-3.

“It feels good to be back on the clay now and I enjoy it, to be honest,” fourth seed Federer said.

Gasquet did not look fully fit in his first tournament of 2019 after injury.

Nevertheless, the 20-time Grand Slam champion was at his ruthless best, delighting a mesmerised Caja Magica with a majestic display against the world number 39.

• Johanna Konta knocked out by Simona Halep
• Kyle Edmund exits Madrid Open in first round

Federer was making his return to the red dirt for the first time since losing to Austria’s Dominic Thiem at the 2016 Rome Masters, having missed that year’s French Open with a back injury and sitting out the past two clay-court swings in order to preserve his body.

“Once the decision was upon me again for this year, if I would have skipped the clay again, I think I would have felt like that’s not the right decision,” the former world number one said.

“I would have always felt regrets not being on the clay in 2019 because my knee problem is far enough away now.

“That was still playing a little bit part of our decision in 2017, to be quite honest, not from my side but more from the team.”

Federer is a three-time champion in Madrid and received a huge ovation from the crowd, which included Brazilian footballing great Ronaldo, when he arrived on the court.

And the Madrid fans – many of whom perhaps thought they would not see Federer here again – noisily rose to their feet again after he wrapped up a straightforward win.

“It’s been a special night for me to come back and play here,” Federer said.

“The crowds and the ovation I got before and after the game were great.

“It really makes you feel like that was the right choice to come to Madrid, so that felt good.”

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British number one Kyle Edmund lost 6-4 6-3 to Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the first round at the Madrid Open.

World number 12 Fognini, 31, took one hour and 30 minutes to secure victory as he broke Edmund’s serve four times.

Edmund could not recover after losing serve at 4-4 in the first set, or once he went 3-2 down in the second.

It is the Briton’s fourth straight defeat, having lost to American world number 82 Denis Kudla in the first round of the Munich Open last week.

The 24-year-old has also lost to Diego Schwartzman in Monte Carlo and, after a first-round victory over Ugo Humbert, to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Marrakech on clay this season.

Number one seed Novak Djokovic, 31, progressed to the third round in Madrid, beating 21-year-old American Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-2.

The Serb is joined by potential quarter-final opponent Marin Cilic, after the Croat recovered from a set down against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff to win 4-6 6-3 6-4.

Competing in his final tournament before retirement, 37-year-old David Ferrer beat fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 4-6 6-4 to set up a second-round tie against third seed Alexander Zverev.

Stan Wawrinka beat France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2 6-3 and will face Guido Pella in the second round after the Argentine overcame 12th seed Daniil Medvedev 6-2 1-6 6-3.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Jamie Murray and partner Bruno Soares reached the men’s doubles second round, taking just 18 minutes to win the first set in a 6-0 6-4 victory against Nikoloz Basilashvili and Radu Albot.

Later on Tuesday, Roger Federer will contest his first clay-court match in three years against France’s Richard Gasquet, and Barcelona Open champion Dominic Thiem faces Reilly Opeka.

Nadal ‘hopes to be ready’ despite illness

World number two Rafael Nadal is preparing to begin his tournament with a second-round match against Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime.

A five-time champion in Madrid – most recently in 2017 – Nadal has been struggling with a virus as he aims to improve on back-to-back semi-final defeats.

The Spaniard lost to to Dominic Thiem in Barcelona and Fabio Fognini in Monte Carlo as he failed to defend either of his titles in April.

“I’ve been going through a virus. The positive side is I’ve been able to train at least an hour-and-a-half [per session],” said 32-year-old Nadal.

He added: “I hope that tomorrow is going to be a bit better. It’s true that when you have this virus and stomach viruses, the body’s a bit weaker. I’m a bit better than yesterday and yesterday was better than the day before.

“There is a bit more risk of injuries. But of course, this is a very important tournament for me and I hope to be ready. Barcelona was a positive improvement for me. I’m building up my game with more confidence than I had in Monte Carlo. I’m enjoying training and I enjoy playing each day.”

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British number one Johanna Konta went out of the Madrid Open in the second round, losing to Romanian world number three Simona Halep.

Two-time Madrid champion Halep, 27, wrapped up a 7-5 6-1 win in one hour and 30 minutes.

On Sunday, world number 47 Konta, 27, lost the Morocco Open title to Maria Sakkari in her first final on clay.

Halep, who won the Madrid title in 2016 and 2017, will play Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova in the third round.

“I feel like I started playing at a really good level,” Konta told BBC Sport.

“I thought I found my footing reasonably quickly. As you would expect playing against someone like Simona, she’s going to rally back and what she does incredibly well is compete and really work her way into the points.

“I definitely created chances in that first set – unfortunately I couldn’t capitalise. And then I think I just ran out of a little bit of steam there in the second set.”

Konta was the first to go up a break, leading 2-1 before easing through two service games to take a 4-2 lead.

She found herself at break point to reach 5-2 but Halep managed to hold serve, going on to break Konta to level the scores.

At 5-5, Halep withstood three break points and when leading 6-5, managed to wrap up the set on her fifth set point.

The French Open champion asserted her dominance in the second set, allowing Konta only two points in the first four games.

Konta broke her opponent’s serve to get a game on the board, but Halep broke back immediately before serving out the match.

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Former British number one Andy Murray has been given a wildcard to play at Queen’s Club next month and will decide “nearer the time” if he will compete.

The three-time Grand Slam champion, 31, had hip surgery in January.

Murray said in March he was pain-free but rated his chances of playing in the Wimbledon singles at “less than 50%” and has not played competitively since.

The Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s in London will start on Monday, 17 June – two weeks before Wimbledon begins.

Current British top two Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie will feature at the tournament, as will last year’s beaten Wimbledon and US Open finalists Kevin Anderson and Juan Martin del Potro.

Defending champion Marin Cilic, three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, Australian Nick Kyrgios and former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic are also named on the entry list.

A wildcard is being held in reserve for five-time winner Murray, who Queen’s say will let tournament director Stephen Farrow know nearer the time of the event if he is fit enough to take it.

Murray broke down in tears at the Australian Open in January, saying in his pre-tournament news conference that he planned to retire after this year’s Wimbledon because of pain in his hip.

However, he said the first Grand Slam of 2019 could prove to be the last tournament of his career.

After a gutsy first-round five-set defeat by Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, Murray appeared to soften his stance by telling the Melbourne crowd he hoped to see them again next year.

In his post-match news conference, he said he was considering the resurfacing operation primarily to improve his quality of life.

Murray had the hip resurfacing operation – which keeps more of the damaged bone than a hip replacement, smoothing the ball down and covering it with a metal cap – in London on 28 January.

American doubles player Bob Bryan had the same surgery last year and returned to action, alongside twin brother Mike, five months later. No tennis player has competed in singles after having the operation.

Should Murray compete, it will be the first time since 2006 that Britain has had three direct entrants at Queen’s.

BBC Sport will have live coverage from the west London club across television, radio and online.