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Roger Federer is back. After a three-year absence, the 2009 champion returned to Roland Garros on Sunday with a simple 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego. Switzerland broke five times and hit 36 winners to leave the field in less than two hours.
"Since there was some pressure at first, obviously nerves, a lot of people wanted to know how it was going to be for me, how I was going to come back.
"There has been a lot of attention lately with my return. When I started the match, I started it well, so it shows that the pressure is not agitating, "said Federer.
"I played right now on the central court here at Roland Garros. The duration of the match was not a problem. No problem with my body before or after the match. And then, I have … two and a half days … it's great for me for the start of the tournament. "
Federer missed 2016 Roland Garros because of an injury and chose to avoid the 2017 and 2018 clay swings to prepare for the grass field season.
But he has returned to European swing successfully this year, qualifying for the quarter-finals in Madrid and Rome, although he withdrew from the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome due to an injury in the leg, a decision that Federer has described as "precautionary".
"Now I am very happy to have made this decision because I loved Madrid, I loved Rome. I am happy to be here. The reception I received today was crazy, it was really nice to see a complete stadium for a first round like this. It was a beauty. So, I am very very happy, "said Federer.
The Swiss won his only title at Roland Garros 10 years ago, beating Sweden's Robin Soderling in the final to complete the career Grand Slam. He qualified for the quarter-finals in 2015 by bowing to fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka. Federer will then meet the lucky German Oscar Otte, who beat Tunisian Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
Diego Schwartzman, 17th seeded, also beat the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-2 in the three-hour and seventh round. 41 minutes. Argentina regained its form this month, reaching its first semifinal of the Masters 1000 in Rome, where it pushed the world number 1, Novak Djokovic, to three sets.
Schwartzman, Rio de Janeiro's champion last year, also beat world clay champion and current world number-four Dominic Thiem in straight sets in Buenos Aires in February. The right-hander of 5 "7" will then face fellow countryman Leonardo Mayer, who beat Czech Jiri Vesely 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-0 in two hours and nine minutes.
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