Andujar spoils Federer return; Serena stunned as Siniakova wins

Roger Federer lost the first match of his comeback-proper on Tuesday as the Swiss tennis great tumbled out of the Geneva Open on his first outing in two months.

Federer lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round to Spanish clay court specialist Pablo Andujar to wreck the 39-year-old’s hopes of stringing a run of matches together ahead of the French Open, Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics.

Federer returned to the courts in March, having been out for more than a year following two knee surgeries, winning his first match in Doha before losing his second.

He was hoping to find some form on the Geneva clay but tumbled at the first hurdle.

Federer waved to the few dozen masked spectators dotted around the Eaux-Vives centre court, with the attendance limited due to local coronavirus restrictions.

Fans gathered in the woods outside the tennis club for a glimpse of Federer through the fence.

Federer seemed at ease in his movement but took a bit of time to get into his groove, getting only 40 percent of his first serves in during the first set, which he lost by overhitting a second serve.

In the second set, Federer won his first service game to love then broke for a 2-1 lead.

He began to show flashes of the old magic, throwing in occasional backhand drop shots. He overhit his first set point but made no mistake with the second.

Federer broke to go 2-1 up in the second set, drawing Andujar to the net and beating him with a backhand passing shot.

Andujar broke back to make it 4-4 and held serve to leave Federer serving to stay in the match.

Andujar had two match points but Federer pulled it back to deuce before misfiring to hand his opponent victory.

Federer shook his head as he walked to the net, while Andujar, 35, looked like he could not believe what he had pulled off, in what was remarkably their first match despite the Spaniard having turned professional in 2003.

Andujar will face either Marton Fucsovics, the 2018 Geneva winner, or Swiss teenager Dominic Stricker, the 2020 French Open boys’ champion, in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, former world number one Serena Williams crashed out of the WTA tournament in Parma on Tuesday when she was beaten in straight sets 7-6, 6-2 in her second round match by Czech Katerina Siniakova.

The 39-year-old American, currently ranked eighth in the world, had been given a wild card to play in Parma after her premature exit from the Italian Open, where she also lost in the second round in what was her first match in nearly three months since her semi-final defeat in the Australian Open.

In Monday’s first round in Parma she had comfortably seen off teenager Lisa Pigato but the 25-year-old Siniakova, ranked 68 in singles but a former world number one in doubles, was a tougher proposition.

Williams fired down five aces but also threw in seven double faults as she struggled to get her service game working.

Siniakova took the first set tiebreak to four and then broke Williams three times in the second set as she wrapped up the match in one hour 37 minutes.

The Emilia-Romagna Open was intended to be a perfect clay warm-up ahead of the French Open, which kicks off in Paris on May 30.

Williams, a three-time winner at Roland Garros, needs one more Grand Slam title to match Australian great Margaret Court’s record of 24 major trophies.

Gael Monfils ended a 15-month victory drought by defeating lucky loser Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil 7-5, 6-4 at the Lyon Open

Elsewhere, Gael Monfils ended a 15-month victory drought by defeating lucky loser Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil 7-5, 6-4 Tuesday at the Lyon Open.

Less than two weeks before the French Open starts in Paris, the fifth-seeded Frenchman got a welcome boost after being slowed by injuries recently.

Monfils, who withdrew from the Monte Carlo Open with a calf injury and lost in the first round in Rome, finally kickstarted his clay-court season in Lyon. He hit seven aces and saved the seven break points he faced to reach the second round.

Agencies