Roger Federer marked his return to Grand Slam tennis with a thorough 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory over qualifier Denis Istomin in the first round of the French Open on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 2009 champion struck 48 winners and won 19 of 24 points at net in the 93-minute match, improving to 8-0 lifetime against the 204th-ranked Istomin.
Ruthless Federer into second round after impressive opening win
Federer asserted himself right away, breaking to 15 in the opening game of the match, aided by a pair of double faults by Istomin. He attained a second break with a forehand winner to go in front 5-2.
Serving for the set, the Swiss fell into a 15-30 hole, but struck back-to-back aces to bring up set point and he hit a deep serve that Istomin was unable to do anything with and Federer was on his way.
Istomin saved a pair of break points in the opening game of the second set to hold, but a forehand error in his next service game gave Federer the advantage at 2-1. The Uzbek did well to hang in the set, but an ace on set point gave Federer a two-set lead.
The third set went to serve through the first four games, but in the fifth, a backhand volley gave Federer triple break point and after failing to convert on the first two, a forehand winner on the third put him on top 3-2.
Istomin did well to save a break point and hold to cut the deficit to 4-3, but serving to stay in the match, he meekly dumped a forehand slice into the net as Federer advanced in clinical fashion.