Federer eases into second round on French Open return

Roger Federer marked his return to the French Open with a straight sets defeat of Uzbekistan qualifier Denis Istomin on Monday.

The 39-year-old Federer, the champion in Paris in 2009 but playing the event for only the second time since 2015, won 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

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It was his eighth win in eight meetings with Istomin and gave him a second round clash against either former US Open winner Marin Cilic or French wild card Arthur Rinderknech.

Federer, who skipped the 2020 tournament, was playing just his fourth match of the year and first at a Slam since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals last