GENEVA (Dispatches) - A rusty Roger Federer was beaten 6-4 4-6 6-4 by Spaniard Pablo Andujar on his return to the ATP Tour at the claycourt Geneva Open, but there were still plenty of positives for the Swiss in his performance.
Federer missed nearly the entire 2020 season after twice having knee surgery. He returned to the Tour at the Qatar Open in March, but had not played since losing in the quarterfinals in Doha.
On Tuesday, the 39-year-old went toe-to-toe with Andujar in their first-ever meeting, showing plenty of encouraging signs with his shot-making and on-court movement ahead of the French Open.
After bouncing back in the second set, Federer looked poised to run away with the contest before an uncharacteristic lapse in concentration put paid to his hopes of an extended run at his home tournament.
Andujar, ranked 75th in the world, made a strong start, while Federer struggled to settle into his serving rhythm early on.
The top seed landed just 40 percent of his first serves in the first set, but still never looked like being broken until a wobble in his final service game allowed Andujar to capitalize on two successive unforced errors and take the opener.
The second set was a different story.