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Rome - Roger Federer and family landed in the Italian capital on Monday with the Swiss hoping to participate as scheduled in this week's Rome Masters.
But the newly-crowned world No 2, who won a third Madrid title at the weekend after beatingTomas Berdych in the final, said he will be listening to his body to determine if he's feeling fit enough to make a second round start on Wednesday at the Foro Italico.
"Normally yes," the 30-year-old said of his chances of taking to the court as scheduled at an event which he has never won despite two finals.
"But we'll see how I feel over the next few days. I still have a couple of days to see how I feel and take it from there.
"It's been a tough week, the body feels it when you come back from six weeks. It does hurt a bit so I just have to make sure I make the right decision come Tuesday, Wednesday. I hope I can play."
Federer was temporarily luxuriating in his seventh title from 10 ATP starts dating to last autumn in Europe. The 16-time Grand Slam winner's 74th career title sent Rafael Nadal back to third on the ATP list, with Novak Djokovic still leading the chase.
Both of Federer's top rivals fell by the wayside on the controversial blue clay which sent them out early but did not disturb the steady Swiss as he won his fourth trophy of the season.
As a result, Federer climbed to second and is glad to be back as he won following a strategic six-week pause from late March.
"It's obviously surprising to me to come back and win the title straight away. I was worried about getting through the first one and not even thinking who was going to be my second round opponent," said the Swiss.
"I was very realistic coming into this event. I guess I had forgotten that I have such a great record here in Madrid and I guess I drew from that.
"That first match (winning a third-set tiebreak over Canadian Milos Raonic) round was key, just to stay in the tournament and give myself an opportunity and finally find some rhythm from the baseline.
"The next thing you know is that you're in the tournament and playing against someone you've beaten many times. Confidence is coming back; but it doesn't take much for me to get my confidence back especially at this point.
"I've been playing so well for the past nine months. It's been a great spell and I couldn't be more happy right now coming off a break winning right away. It's always an ideal scenario for what's to come."
Federer has not looked back since losing a heartbreak US Open semi-final to Djokovic after holding two match points. The Swiss has a chance to regain the No 1 ranking with standout showings in the upcoming weeks in either Paris or Wimbledon, according to ATP calculations.
On court at the Foro Italico, French 13th seed Gael Monfils advanced to the second round over Russian Alex Bogomolov 6-4, 6-1 while Fernando Verdasco, who sent Nadal out of Madrid, won as Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov quit after losing their opening set 6-0.
Australian Bernard Tomic, a first-round Madrid loser, beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
In women's play, 13th-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic beat two-time finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4, 6-3, German Julia Goerges beat Canadian qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3 and Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa defeated Australian Jarmila Gajdosova 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
Results on Monday from the Italian Open on red clay at the Foro Italico (seedings in parentheses):
Men
First Round
Gael Monfils (13), France, def. Alex Bogomolov Jr., Russia, 6-4, 6-1.
Fernando Verdasco, Spain, def. Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukraine, 6-0, retired.
Bernard Tomic, Australia, def. Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
David Nalbandian, Argentina, def. Albert Ramos, Spain, 6-3, 6-4.
Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, def. Robin Haase, Netherlands, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
Fabio Fognini, Italy, def. Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus, 6-2, 6-2.
Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic, def. Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentina, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Carlos Berlocq, Argentina, def. Blaz Kavcic, Slovenia, 6-1, 6-3.
Nicolas Almagro (12), Spain, def. Marin Cilic, Croatia, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0.
John Isner (9), United States, def. Philipp Kohlscreiber, Germany, 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.
Women
First Round
Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spain, def. Zheng Jie, China, 6-2, 6-1.
Chanelle Scheepers, South Africa, def. Jarmila Gajdosova, Australia, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
Vania King, United States, def. Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria, 6-0, 6-1.
Christina McHale, United States, def. Monica Niculescu, Romania, 6-4, 6-4.
Iveta Benesova, Czech Republic, def. Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7/5).
Ana Ivanovic (13), Serbia, def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 6-4, 6-3.
Julia Goerges, Germany, def. Aleksandra Wozniak, Canada, 6-1, 6-7 (1/7), 6-3.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, def. Ksenia Pervak, Kazakhstan, 6-2, 6-4.
Shahar Peer, Israel, def. Peng Shuai, China, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 3-1, retired.
Angelique Kerber (12), Germany, def. Anastasia Rodionova, Australia, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Sofia Arvidsson, Sweden, def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Spain, 6-3, 6-2.
Ekaterina Makarova, Russia, def. Francesca Schiavone (10), Italy, 6-3, 6-4.
