MADRID: Maria Sharapova has served a doping ban, Serena Williams has given birth and Novak Djokovic briefly employed Andre Agassi as his mentor. These are some of the things that occurred during Roger Federer’s 1090-day absence from the clay.
The 20-time grand slam champion finally ended his hiatus from the dirt at the Madrid Open on Tuesday. Taking center stage on the Manolo Santana Court, Federer fever was in full swing. The area was packed with Swiss flags visible around the arena. Challenging Federer was Richard Gasquet, who is staging his own comeback. Albeit in a different fashion. The Frenchman was playing in only his second match of the year after spending months away due to groin surgery.
With the world watching, Federer did not disappoint during his 6-2, 6-3, win. The 36-year-old moved comfortably around the court and wasn’t afraid to mix up his play when required. Combining some deep hits towards the baseline with some carefully crafted drop-shots. Drawing praise from the crowd. The display saw him hit 28 winners to 20 unforced errors.
“I’ve missed the clay-court season for some time, so it was a great return,” Federer said during his on-court interview. “Thank you for such a wonderful crowd for coming out and supporting me. This is sort of a special night for me to come back on the clay.”
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At the start, it was Federer who went off guns blazing with a three-game winning streak. Leaving Gasquet behind, who appeared stiff following his three-set match on Monday. Gaining in momentum, the world No.3 clinched the first set in just 24 minutes. Breaking his opponent for a second time to do so.
To Gasquet’s credit, he refused to be walked over. Showing glimmers of his true talent with the help of his backhand. Forcing Federer to work for his first win on the dirt since May 2016. It wasn’t until eight games into the second set that Federer prevailed. A costly forehand error from Gasquet rewarded him a chance to break for 5-3. An opportunity he seized with the help of a smash. A game away from victory, Federer closed out the match with a serve down the line that was returned out by his opponent. Rewarding him his 1199th win on the tour.
“I was actually very calm,” Federer commented about his return to the clay. “All day waiting for the match, nerves can sometimes come up because you have so much time to think about that match. I really only thought that when I was starting to talking about the match tactics against Richard, who has beaten me twice before.”
“The practice is never like a match. When you miss a shot it affects you more. Whereas on the clay every miss feels like a double. So that’s why all of a sudden I was a bit nervous. I played a good match and it was a good game.” He added.
Federer is a three-time champion in Madrid with his last triumph occurring back in 2012. Overall he has won 11 titles on the clay with the most recent being at the 2015 Istanbul Open.
Awaiting the Swiss fourth seed in the third round at Madrid will be either Gael Monfils or Marton Fucsovics.
