Federer suffers defeat in comeback match
Twenty time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, who landed on clay court after a gap of two years later, had to face defeat in the first match. The 39-year-old Federer from Switzerland, who got a bye in the first round, was beaten by world number 75 Pablo Andujar 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 in the second round of the Geneva Open tennis tournament.
With this defeat, Federer’s 32-match win streak in his country also came to an end. His last defeat in Switzerland was eight years ago (on 27 October 2013) in the final of the Basel Open at the hands of Juan Martin del Potro. This was Federer’s second tournament of the year. Spain’s Pablo defeated a player in the top ten for the fifth time in his career.
Federer returned to this tournament after an injury layoff, but his campaign ended in the second round. Federer has undergone 2 knee surgeries in the last 15 months. There was a time when Federer was ahead 4–2 in the deciding set but Andujar made a tremendous comeback to win the match by defeating the legendary player 6-4 in the decisive set.
Pablo will now face local player Dominic Stephen Stricker in the quarter-finals. Against the world number 419, Stricker outclassed Croatia’s Marin Cilic 7-6, 6-1.
