World No. 10 Matteo Berrettini made his return to the court with a 6-2 4-6 6-3 victory over Radu Albot in Stuttgart on Wednesday, nearly three months after suffering a hand injury.
The Italian, who won the ATP 250 grasscourt event in 2019, underwent surgery in March and skipped the French Open as well as Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome.
The 26-year-old was dominant on his first serve and also fired down 21 aces against qualifier Albot to reach the quarterfinals.
Berrettini is the second seed behind world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in Stuttgart, which opens the grasscourt swing ahead of Wimbledon.
Britain’s Andy Murray faces Alexander Bublik on Thursday in the second round, while Tsitsipas faces Swiss Dominic Stephan Stricker.