Federer misses his return to clay in Geneva

The party is ruined.

For his first match on clay in more than two years, Roger Federer was eliminated from the Geneva tournament on Tuesday, by the Spaniard Pablo Andujar, 75th in the world, less than two weeks before the start of Roland Garros.

Federer, 8th in the world, lost the first set and won the second, before spoiling a break in the third set to lose 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 in 1 hour 54.

No one knew about Covid-19 and the 'Big Three' still reigned supreme on the ATP Tour the last time Federer played on clay. It was almost two years ago, on June 7, 2019, when the Swiss lost in the semi-final of Roland Garros against his best enemy Rafael Nadal. Since then, the pandemic has turned everything upside down, and Federer, now 39, has only appeared very occasionally on the courts, with a double knee operation that took him away from the circuit for more than a year between February 2020 and March 2021.

At two and a half months of his 40th birthday, the “GOAT” played his third game of the year.

Planning to line up at Roland Garros (May 30-June 13), he aims to be 100% again at Wimbledon (June 28-July 11), where he will aim for a 21st Grand Slam title and the 9th in London, absolute records for men.

And intends to follow up with the Olympic tournament at the Tokyo Games, scheduled for July 24 to August 1, his other big goal of the year while only Olympic gold in singles is still missing from his prestigious record.

Fatal slackening

Federer had made a first comeback in March, on hard in Doha, with a victory (against Daniel Evans) and a loss (against the future winner Nikoloz Basilashvili) as a record.

The second was not better, with this defeat, in his native Switzerland moreover, and while the table of this ATP 250 tournament did not in principle have enough to frighten a player of his caliber.

But on clay, a surface where he himself admits being less comfortable, it was he who gave in to Andujar, whom he had never faced.

The Spaniard grabbed the only break point in the first set, taking advantage of a purring Federer, with just 40% first serve.

Encouraged by the very small public (a hundred people), sanitary restrictions oblige, of the Eaux-Vives court, "Roger" raised his level of play in the second set, leaving at times to glimpse the magic of his technique.

He made the break, in the third game, to take the lead and come back to a round everywhere.

In the final set, he again took the Spaniard's serve in game three ... but then showed a fatal slack.

Andujar was able to pick up at 4-4, then get three match points on the service of the Swiss, at 5-4.

The third was the right one.

In the next round, Andujar will face either the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, winner in 2018 in Geneva, or the young Swiss Dominic Stephan Stricker, novice on the main circuit and striker of Marin Cilic in the previous round.

For Federer, less than two weeks from the French Open on the ocher of Porte d'Auteuil, the account is not there yet.

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