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Tennis world erupts over Roger Federer and Serena Williams returns

Riley Morgan
·Sports Reporter
·4-min read

 

Serena Williams (pictured left) fist-pumping during her match and Roger Federer (pictured right)smiling after a win.
Serena Williams (pictured left) and Roger Federer (pictured right) both made winning returns in the First Round of Roland Garros. (Getty Images)

The tennis world watched on in delight after the return of tennis icons Roger Federer and Serena Williams at a Grand Slam tournament.

Federer's first competition at any major tournament in 16 months ended with him on the right side of a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 score against qualifier Denis Istomin at the French Open as fans chanted "Ro-ger! Ro-ger!"

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The 20-time Grand Slam champ put on a show for the 1,000 fans in the stadium, and those watching around the world, as he hit 48 winners and even attempted a 'tweener'.

But Federer was too good for his opponent and showed he was better prepared than his warm-up tournament in Geneva, which saw him lose his first game.

"What a pleasure to be back," Federer said.

Federer hasn't appeared at a Grand Slam since his defeat in the 2019 Australian Open quarter-final to Novak Djokovic.

But the 39-year-old, turning 40 in August, put on a masterclass and even had one fan yelling: "A delight, Roger! A delight!" as the Swiss maestro went up 4-2 in the third set.

But Federer wasn't the only Grand Slam champ to be returning after a stint on the sidelines.

Serena Williams wins French Open first round

Williams returned to the French Open and the American won in her first ever scheduled night session at Roland Garros.

Williams saved two set points before going on to beat Irina-Camelia Begu 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 on Monday to advance to the second round.

Despite a lot of her post-match press conference focusing on Namoi Osaka's huge French Open announcement, William's did say she was honoured to take part in the night session.

This is despite the 23-time Grand Slam champ playing in front of no crowd due to the curfew in Paris as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"It was pretty cool to be able to play the first night session ever here at Roland Garros. That was something I thoroughly enjoyed," said Williams, who will face another Romanian in round two in 174th-ranked Mihaela Buzarnescu.

Fans were equally delighted for the return of both legends at Roland Garros

Their victories also meant the pair both have a remarkable 363 Grand Slam singles match wins.

with AAP

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