Google News Roger Federer 'happy' with his French Open first round performance
by | VIEW 185
Former world No. 1 Roger Federer was happy with the way he performed against Denis Istomin in his opener at the French Open. Federer, now ranked at No. 8 in the world, beat Istomin 6-2 6-4 6-3 to clinch his first clay win since 2019.
“I just felt overall much clearer, much better,” Federer said. “Clearly also maybe the type of opponent allowed me to have many different ways to win the point. I knew if I came to the net, that was an option, hitting a drop shot was always an option, taking the ball early was an option”.
“I felt today I really made a bigger effort of going more in swings and not going through it like in the practice, where you just go point for point for point,” he added. “I sometimes have to tell myself, Take a little bit of time, walk to the towel, do something different...
That's where I think I felt much more comfortable today because I made an effort to think about it”.
Federer plays Marin Cilic next
“Overall I'm very happy [with my movement],” Federer said. “I can attest to that, as well.
I moved pretty well today. I also kept rallies short purposely so I wouldn't get dragged into the long rallies. Always throw in the drop shot. We'll see what happens”. Elsewhere, Lorenzo Musetti handed a 6-0 7-5 7-6 (3) loss to David Goffin to reach the second round.
"I think this is the proof that I have the level. Sometimes when I am not focussed and not playing really good, of course my level is not like today. For sure I am playing better when I'm without pressure because today, I was playing really relaxed," Musetti said.
"Of course, it was not easy to win even if I was relaxed. When you play against the [No.]13 in the world, it's not the same thing [like] playing [someone] worse than you [in] the rankings that you must [beat]." Musetti couldn't serve out for the match in the 10th game of the third set kept his focus and finished the match in straight sets.
"I was a little bit under pressure when I was serving for the match. He was always returning from the baseline really close to the line. He was giving me a lot of pressure," Musetti said. "I just stayed calm and tried to think at each point, like the last one. I tried to [not] speak, [not] talk. It worked. I am happy about that."