PARIS – With so few matches in the tank over the past 17 months, Roger Federer knew the first big test of where his game was at would likely come against Marin Cilic on Thursday.
The 39-year-old Swiss had made his first-round win over Denis Istomin look like an exhibition match as he enjoyed a comortable return to the Grand Slam area for the first time since losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2020.
Former U.S. Open champion Cilic, however, was a different proposition in the second round.
The big-hitting Croatian levelled the match at one set apiece and then came from a break down to push Federer into a third-set tiebreak – the outcome of …
Keep on reading: Federer happy to find higher gear vs. Cilic in French Open 2nd round