Federer wins on return to Grand Slam

PARIS (AP):

They feted Roger Federer with as loud as applause gets from a crowd capped at 1,000 people in Court Philippe Chatrier – when he walked out with a wave, when he hit one of his 48 winners, even when he attempted a back-to-the-net ‘tweener and hit the ball out.

This match bathed in sunshine yesterday, meant Federer finally was back at the French Open and back in Grand Slam action and he gave the excited fans what they wanted perhaps as much as he did: a victory.

Federer’s first match at any major tournament in 16 months ended with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over qualifier Denis Istomin. It was a case of many happy returns – and serves, forehands, backhands, volleys and drop shots, too.

Showing no signs of rust, really, or trouble with the right knee that needed two operations last year, Federer produced more than twice as many winners as unforced errors – 48 to 20 – and never faced a break point, while improving to 8-0 against Istomin over their careers.

Federer, whose 40th birthday is August 8, hadn’t appeared on the Grand Slam stage since January 30, 2020, when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

This also was just Federer’s second trip to the French Open since 2015. In addition to last year’s absence because of the knee issues, he withdrew in 2016 citing a bad back, then sat out the clay-court circuit each of the next two years to focus on the grass-court portion of the season.

ZERO CHANCES OF WINNING

He acknowledged recently he has zero chance of claiming the trophy this time around in Paris; instead, he is hoping to tune up his game to be ready to challenge for a championship at Wimbledon, where play begins in about a month.

After rhythmic clapping from the stands accompanied Federer’s trot to the baseline for the match’s opening point, he got off to the perfect start against Istomin, who is ranked 204th.

Federer used a drop shot against Istomin to earn a break point in the opening game, then converted it with a forehand winner, before holding to go up 2-0.

Just one and a half hours later, it was over for Federer, who won the 2009 French Open for one of his 20 Grand Slam titles.

He shares that men’s record with rival Rafael Nadal, who is scheduled to play his first-round match today to open his bid for a 14th championship in Paris and tiebreaking 21st major overall. Djokovic also is slated to make his debut on Day 3 of the clay-court tournament.

In another first-round men’s match, rising Italian star Jannik Sinner, a quarter-finalist on his debut at Roland Garros last year, had a far harder time. He needed to save match point to get through a 6-1, 4-6, 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4 win over France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

“It’s a crazy sport,” Sinner said. “I’m happy it went my way.”