“Have More Clarity in My Head Now”: Roger Federer Reflects on Loss to Pablo Andujar, Reveals Change in Strategy After First Round Victory at French Open 2021

Before entering the French Open, there were a lot of doubts surrounding the performance of Roger Federer on Parisian clay. Many even exclaimed that it was not wise of Federer to choose to play in Paris as the clay would worsen his physical condition.

If Federer’s first match at Roland Garros is anything to go by, it appears as though the grand slam might do more good than harm to the Swiss.

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Roger Federer played a flawless match against Denis Istomin at French Open

In his grand slam comeback after 487 days, Federer dismantled the Uzbek tennis player Denis Istomin in straight sets 6-2,6-4,6-3 in an hour and 33 minutes.

The 20-time grand slam champion is pitted against Marin Cilic in the second round. If he maintains the same level of dominance as today, he could very well give a tough fight to Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

The Serb, who is one of the top contenders to win the French Open slam will begin his campaign against the American Tennys Sandgren tomorrow.

Coming back to Federer, it didn’t take much time for him to establish control over Denis Istomin. Speaking about his gameplay in the post-match press conference, Roger mentioned the changes he made from his loss to Pablo Andujar at Geneva Open.

“I swore to myself that, I wouldn’t be as far behind the baseline on the return as I did in Geneva. That was a complete joke. I was not feeling well there and wanted to try it with the sledgehammer. I have more clarity in my head now”, Federer reflected.

During his opening round match against Andujar at Geneva, the Swiss star tried to do different things to his defense game by going a few meters deep into the baseline to return the Spaniard’s serve. This approach didn’t pay him much dividends as Federer failed to turn on his aggressive game when needed and lost the match eventually.

From what Federer said so far after his victory over Istomin, it’s apparent that the 20-time grand slam champion is ready to compete and give a tough fight to every opponent.

Also read: “Confidence Always Wins”- Roger Federer Reacts After His Spectacular 1R Triumph at French Open 2021