News Desk
\nPARIS
\nRoger Federer marked his return to Roland Garros after a four-year absence with a straight sets win over Italy\u2019s Lorenzo Sonego on Sunday, admitting he \u201cfelt on edge,\u201d as Angelique Kerber\u2019s hopes of completing a career Grand Slam suffered a quick kill.
\nFederer, a 20-time major winner, had not played the tournament since 2015 when he reached the quarterfinals.
\nHowever, on Sunday, it was as if the 37-year-old had never been away as he swept to a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory in one hour 41 minutes on a packed, rebuilt Court Philippe Chatrier. It was his 60th successive first round win at a Grand Slam.
\n\u201cI felt on edge at the start, my heart was beating crazily,\u201d said Federer, who hailed the new-look stadium which has been 90 percent rebuilt in readiness for the installation of a retractable roof for 2020.
\n\u201cI felt great playing on this court. It looks very attractive, so congratulations to everyone involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully I can play here again for my next match.\u201d<\/p>\n
That match will be against German lucky loser Oscar Otte who won just his second match in eight years on the tour by seeing off Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be surprised if Roger knew my name,\u201d said Otte, the world No. 145.<\/p>\n
Federer broke serve five times and fired 36 winners past 24-year-old Sonego, the world No. 73 who made the quarterfinals at the Monte Carlo Masters.<\/p>\n
German fifth seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Kerber saw her hopes of a career Grand Slam ended by Russian teenager Anastasia Potapova.<\/p>\n
Kerber slumped to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat to 18-year-old Potapova who was making her French Open debut.<\/p>\n
\u201cKerber is actually one of my idols, and when I was young I was looking for her game,\u201d said the 81st-ranked Russian who hit 28 winners past her German opponent.<\/p>\n
Kerber, 31, has now lost six times in the French Open first round.<\/p>\n
The German left-hander had come into Roland Garros carrying a right ankle injury which forced her to pull out of the Italian Open and retire from her second round tie in Madrid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have many expectations coming in,\u201d said Kerber, who was broken six times in the match which brought the curtain up on the newlook Chatrier arena.<\/p>\n
Potapova\u2019s first win over a top 10 player gives her a second round clash against 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n
Greek sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who stunned Federer on his way to the Australian Open semifinals and beat 11-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal in Madrid, also made the second round.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old sixth seed brushed aside Germany\u2019s Maximilian Marterer 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7\/4).<\/p>\n
The new Court Simonne Mathieu, a 5,000-capacity semi-sunken arena enclosed by greenhouses, was officially unveiled on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News Desk PARIS Roger Federer marked his return to Roland Garros after a four-year absence with a straight sets win over Italy\u2019s Lorenzo Sonego on Sunday, admitting he \u201cfelt on edge,\u201d as Angelique Kerber\u2019s hopes of completing a career Grand Slam suffered a quick kill. Federer, a 20-time major winner, had not played the tournament […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n