Roger Federer receives a hero’s welcome at French Open, breezing in without expectations
By Liz Clarke Liz Clarke Reporter covering the Washington Redskins Email Bio Follow May 26 at 3:19 PM PARIS — The French Open’s official program heralded his return, although Sunday’s ticket-holders at Roland Garros were aware of their fortuitous timing. “Roger Federer Retour sur Terre,” it read, proclaiming with multilayered meaning the Swiss champion’s “return to Earth.”
So, when Federer strode on to Philippe Chatrier Court Sunday afternoon, he was greeted with a standing ovation, cheers and chants of “Roger! Roger!” by a capacity crowd that hailed him as equal parts long-lost love and conquering hero. But in a rare twist, Federer, who boasts a men’s record 20 Grand Slam titles, launches into the season’s second major without the weight of expectation. He has played just five clay-court matches in the last three years, all of them last month, reaching the quarterfinals in both Madrid and Rome, where he bowed out, largely as a precaution, with a niggling leg injury. And he has won the French Open just once, in 2009, the year Nadal was ousted in the fourth round by Robin Soderling.
Against Sonego, Federer accomplished the first goal he set for himself: To avoid an arduous, early-round test. “I know that with [Federer and Nadal], I have to be twice more focused and not give points away,” said Tsitsipas, also a straight-sets victor on Sunday. “They control the court so well. They know what they’re doing; they know where they’re playing, so everything [depends on] these small details … They don’t overplay, don’t do crazy things.”He broke Sonego’s serve five times and hit 36 winners to just 13 unforced errors.
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