PARIS (AP) – They celebrated Roger Federer with as loud applause as a crowd that was limited to 1,000 in court Philippe Chatrier – when he walked out of the house with a wave when he met one of his 48 winners, even if he did one Back tried -to-the-net ‘tweener and knocked the ball out.
That match, bathed in sunshine on Monday, meant Federer was finally back at the French Open and back in Grand Slam action, giving the excited fans what they might want as much as he did: a win.
Federer’s first loss at a major tournament in 16 months ended with a 6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 3 against qualifier Denis Istomin at the French Open as the fans sang “Ro-ger! Ro-ger”! “
It was a case of many lucky returns – and also serves, forehand, backhand, volleys and drop shots.
“What a pleasure to be back,” said Federer.
Federer showed no signs of rust, really, or right knee problems, which required two career surgeries last year.
“It’s always great to be on the pitch with this legend. Playing against him is always a big deal,” said Istomin. “I expected everyone in the audience to cheer him on.”
They did it in a voice from the stands that called, “A pleasure, Roger! A pleasure!” when Federer rose 4-2 in the third set.
Federer, whose 40th birthday is August 8, has not appeared on the Grand Slam stage since January 30, 2020, when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
This was only Federer’s second trip to the French Open since 2015. In addition to last year’s absence due to knee problems, he retired in 2016 because of a bad back, then spent the next two years on the clay court to concentrate on the grass pitch the season.
He recently admitted that he has no chance of winning the trophy this time in Paris. Instead, he hopes to tweak his game to prepare for a championship at Wimbledon, where the game will begin in late June.
“In a way, I like this situation – that I don’t know what’s next and what my next game will look like. I don’t even know who I’m playing against, to be honest,” said Federer, his opponent in the second Round will be 2014 US Open Champion Marin Cilic. “I take it round by round, game by game.”
After the rhythmic clapping accompanied Federer’s trot to the baseline for the opening point of the game, he started perfectly against Istomin, who is in 204th place and is now the owner of a Grand Slam losing streak with seven games, but Djokovic angry Australian Open in 2017.
Federer used a drop shot to score a breakpoint in the opening game, then converted it with a forehand winner before taking a 2-0 lead.
Only 1 1/2 hours later it was over for Federer, who won the French Open in 2009 for one of his 20 Grand Slam titles.
He shares this men’s record with rival Rafael Nadal, who will play his first round match on Tuesday to open his application for a 14th championship in Paris and the 21st major overall. Djokovic is expected to make his debut on day three of the clay court tournament.
Serena Williams, who has 23 Grand Slam singles titles, was due to play in the first scheduled night session in French Open history later on Monday.
Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open winner, went in the afternoon with a 6: 7 (1), 7: 6 (2), 9: 7 defeat against the 85.
“I prepared myself super, super well for this tournament,” said Andreescu, who was seeded at number 6. “That’s why it’s very disappointing to me because I thought I could go far.”
The reigning women’s winner, Iga Swiatek, started exactly where she left off last year: She led another opponent back and forth and won 6-0, 7-5 against her best friend on the tennis track, Kaja Juvan.
Swiatek, who turned 20 on Monday, is trying to become the first woman since Justine Henin in 2007 to win consecutive French Open titles. Swiatek didn’t lose a sentence at Roland Garros last year.
“She didn’t give me any birthday presents,” said Swiatek of Juvan, with whom she won a gold medal in doubles at the 2018 Youth Olympics.
Daniil Medvedev has shown that perseverance pays off, eventually winning a French Open game on his fifth try. The second-placed Russian, twice second in other majors, beat Alexander Bublik 6: 3, 6: 3, 7: 5 after starting his French Open career 4-0.
