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Even when you're as accomplished on grass as Roger Federer is, you can't return to competition after an absence of almost three months and expect to immediately play with great poise and polish.

"What did I miss?" the Wimbledon champion tweeted the other day, a casual reminder of how he hadn't played since the hard court tournament in Miami in March, after skipping the clay court swing. A "fresh start", Federer would call it, but his Wednesday afternoon at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart was not without its complications, with the Swiss dropping the first set against Germany's Mischa Zverev, which ended his winning streak of 30 consecutive sets on grass.

But unlike the same occasion at last summer's Stuttgart tournament, when he was beaten by Germany's Tommy Haas, Federer only lost a set, not a match.

This time, Federer turned his afternoon around, and with his 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory he progressed into the quarter-finals. "Three months is a long time - it's longer than the year-end break, so I'm very happy returning on good terms on to the tour. It was difficult, and I missed some chances maybe in the first set, and he connected well at the right times," Federer said. "And then I found a way, I found my rhythm. I'm very happy with how I played. I'm super happy to be back on tour. It's been a great start."

Federer will play either Argentina's Guido Pella or Indian qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who defeated Canada's Denis Shapovalov in three sets. Should Federer go on to make the final in Stuttgart, he will regain the No.1 ranking on Monday. And if he also next week retains the Halle title he won last summer, Federer will go into The Championships at the top of the ATP Rankings.
No comeback for Bartoli

A "dismayed" Marion Bartoli, who lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish in 2013, has ended her attempt to return to competition, citing shoulder pain.

"To my dismay, I must unfortunately stop my attempt to come back. In effect, the necessary increases in doses of workouts to try and find my best level caused pain to my right shoulder again," the Frenchwoman announced on Twitter.
Nadal withdraws from Queen's

'Extraterrestrial' is a word that has been used a lot over the last couple of months to describe Rafael Nadal's clay court tennis. But on Wednesday he displayed a very human desire to rest. After all his adventures during the spring, culminating with his 11th Roland Garros title on Sunday, the Spaniard needs additional time off - a few more days on his fishing boat than on the court - which was behind his withdrawal from next week's Fever Tree Championships at The Queen's Club.

“Queen’s is a great event, I have happy memories of winning the title in 2008 and I wanted to come back this year. But it has been a very long clay court season for me with great results," said Nadal. "I would like to say sorry to the tournament organisers and most of all to the fans that were hoping to see me play, but I have spoken to my doctors and I need to listen to what my body is telling me.”

Even in Nadal's absence, Queen's Club will have a strong field, with Novak Djokovic to appear in west London for the first time in eight years, while Andy Murray is hoping to make his comeback from his hip injury on Kensington's grass courts.

Maria Sharapova was in the same frame of mind as Nadal, withdrawing from Birmingham ahead of Wimbledon, having not competed at The Championships since 2015.