The Telegraph
Roger Federer makes winning return after 13 months out with gutsy three-set victory over Dan Evans
“For me, tennis is like riding a bike.” So said Roger Federer at the weekend, and his first match back found him in fine, freewheeling form. We saw hints of fatigue, but there was also plenty of his old, sumptuous shotmaking on show as he overcame Dan Evans in three sets: 7-6, 3-6, 7-5. Nobody had been quite sure what to expect of Federer’s first match since the 2020 Australian Open, 405 days ago. He has undergone two keyhole operations on his right knee since then, and celebrated his 39th birthday. Could he really come out and move with his old panther-like grace? The answer, for the most part, was yes. We might have seen a couple of uncharacteristic flubs – which Federer actually seemed to find funny. But there were many more moments of genius, including one backhand winner – whipped up and over the net from the shortest and most awkward of distances – which no-one else would have had the audacity or hand skills to pull off. On a blustery evening in the desert city of Doha, Federer began by asking the officials to remind him of the rules. How long was the warm-up? What was the time on the shot-clock? What was he supposed to do with the towels, now that the ball kids no longer deal with them? Then, when the action got underway, he found a groove from the start, flushing the ball out of the middle of the racket. Each shot sounded as clean as a bite taken out of a fresh apple. On commentary for Amazon Sport, Jonathan Overend was in ecstasies. “It’s quite the comeback!” he roared as the players went to sit down for the very first changeover. “Five minutes of Federer perfection! It feels like he’s never been away.” I said that no-one had known what to expect. Actually, though, there was one man who probably did. And he was on the other side of the net.
"front" - Google News
March 11, 2021 at 01:19AM
https://ift.tt/3ewsb7A
De Bruyne taps Man City in front of Southampton - Yahoo Sports
"front" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3aZh1mr
https://ift.tt/3b2xvu5
No comments:
Post a Comment