French Open 2021: Roger Federer makes a winning comeback, defeats Denis Istomin in the first round
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Roger Federer
Swiss Maestro Roger Federer made a winning start to his French Open campaign as he defeated Uzbek Denis Istomin in straight sets 6-2,6-4,6-3 in the first round. Federer, seeded eighth was making a return to Paris after missing out in 2020 and didn’t disappoint his fans.
Federer was flawless right from the start. He broke Istomin in the very first game and consolidated the break to take a 2-0 lead. The Swiss didn’t look rusty at all and was serving at a decent pace. Istomin too tried to match Federer’s play but could only do so little as he was broken again in the 7th game. Federer then served out the set 6-2.
Totally in control, Federer was trying different things at different stages. In the second set, he was in the mood for some drop shots winners and he did exactly that. He deceived the Uzbek with drop-slice combination and wrong footed him several times. Not much could be done from Istomin’s side as he got broken again in the 4th game. The remainder of the set was on serve and Federer eventually won it 6-4.
Federer makes a winning return
The third set witness unorthodox tennis from both players. Federer tried the serve-volley game at times but didn’t land the first serve frequently. So he switched back to basics and ran away with the game from the baseline.
Istomin played well initially, holding serve but he couldn’t generate any break points on Federer’s serve. And it was in the 5th game that Federer got the decisive break to take a 3-2 lead. He then held serve comfortably and broke Istomin in the last game of the match to win the set 6-3.
This was Federer’s first win on Clay since May 2019. He will now face either Marin Cilic or Arthur Rinderknech in the second round on Wednesday.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)