Roger Federer came from a set behind to beat feisty Portuguese Rui Machado, ranked 90 places below him, as he made his Davis Cup tennis return for Switzerland after an absence of nearly two years.
Federer, playing in front of a crowd which produced the occasional yodel but where cow bells were noticeably absent, faced 14 break points and produced 48 unforced errors in his 5-7 6-3 6-4 6-2 win.
His win gave Switzerland a 2-0 lead on the first day of the European zone tie after Stanislas Wawrinka had beaten Frederico Gil in the opening match.
Federer, who has won 38 out of 49 rubbers (singles and doubles), last played for Switzerland in a playoff against Italy in 2009, when he won both his rubbers in a 3-2 win kept the Swiss in the world group.
Last year, he faced some rare criticism in his homeland when he pulled out of a tie in Kazakhstan at the last minute, shortly after the U.S. Open.
