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Keystone
Roger Federer succeeds in kicking off his 80th Grand Slam tournament. The 39-year-old from Basel beat Uzbek qualifier Denis Istomin 6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 3 at the French Open.
Federer started the game with a break and then couldn’t be dissuaded from the course. He sovereignly controlled the action in front of the 1000 spectators in the Court Philippe Chatrier. He didn’t have to go to his limits. Everything made a relaxed impression. Given the ideal course of the game, he was able to play more relaxed than in his first three matches this year, in which he left an ambivalent impression.
Istomin delivers manageable resistance
Istomin put himself in reserve with his two double mistakes in the first game and then never really found his way into the game. The 34-year-old, who lost to Federer in as many matches for the eighth time, had played his way into the main tournament through qualification. It was the highlight of the past few months: Istomin, the former number 33 and current number 204, celebrated his last victory on the tour in Gstaad in 2019.
For Federer, after the convincing, well over an hour and a half performance in the second round, a duel against a great one continues: either against the former US Open winner Marin Cilic (198 centimeters / ATP 47) or the French Arthur Rinderknech (196 centimeters / ATP 118).
