Roger Federer makes winning return at Monte-Carlo Masters
Tuesday 12 April 2016 19:46, UK
Playing in his first match in six weeks, Roger Federer made a winning return to action at the Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday.
The world No 3 was playing his first match since the Australian Open and needed only an hour and a quarter to defeat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3 6-4.
Federer suffered a knee injury running a bath for his young daughters and underwent surgery on February 3. He had planned to return in Miami three weeks ago but was forced to pull out through illness.
Live ATP Masters Tennis
The Swiss looked sharp and would have won more handsomely had Garcia-Lopez not fought back from 5-1 down in the second set.
But it was nevertheless a highly satisfactory return for Federer at a tournament where he has reached the final four times but never lifted the trophy.
Grigor Dimitrov was unable to find the form that saw him beat Andy Murray in Miami as he lost 6-4 6-3 to 15th seed Gilles Simon while 11th seed David Goffin was an impressive 7-5 6-0 winner over Feliciano Lopez in round one.
Home favourite and number eight seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was made to work hard for his 7-6 7-6 victory over Pablo Carreno-Busta.
Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated youngster Borna Coric 6-4 6-4 and there were also wins for Fernando Verdasco, Taro Daniel, Damir Dzumhur, Pablo Cuevas and Joao Sousa.
Live ATP Masters Tennis
Watch the Monte Carlo Masters on Sky Sports all this week.
By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices.
