Roger Federer demolishes Ruben Bemelmans in just 47 minutes

Roger Federer started his campaign to return to No 1 in the world with a crushing win over Ruben Bemelmans in the Rotterdam Open.

The top seed was in sublime form as he required just 47 minutes to claim a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the world No 116.

The first set took just 18 minutes to complete and although qualifier Bemelmans put up a better fight in the second set, it was still all over inside an hour.

“[It was] very surprising how good things went today,” Federer told atpworldtour.com. “I think the key was to start off well and put Ruben under pressure right away and make him feel like he had to do something special.”

The 20-time Grand Slam winner will take on German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who he has beaten in all 12 of their previous meetings, for a place in the quarter-final.

“You always prefer to play the guy whose game you know,” the Swiss player said

“You know his patterns, it’s nice to play someone like that, you know what to expect.”

Second seed Grigor Dimitrov, playing for the first time since the Australian Open, was given a better test as he beat Yuichi Sugita 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

The Bulgarian will take on Filip Krajinovic next after the latter beat 17-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

David Goffin, meanwhile, beat Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-3, but newly crowned Open de Sud France champion Lucas Pouille was beaten 7-5, 6-4 by Andrey Rublev.