After 701 days, tennis superstar Roger Federer also celebrated a successful return to his German “living room” on his lovely lawn.

At the ATP tournament in Halle/Westphalia, where she is the record winner with ten titles, the Swiss lawn specialist defeated Ilja Ivashka (Belarus) 7:6 (7:4), 7:5. In the 16th round, Federer, who is in fifth place, will face either Felix Auger-Aliassim (Canada) or Hubert Herkaz (Poland).

Federer out of French Open

Federer left the French Open last year after reaching the round of 16 against Dominic Koefer (Furtwangen) to save his body after two knee operations and a long break for the grass season. The 39-year-old has set his eyes on winning his ninth title at Wimbledon (June 28-July 11) as a major target.

He wanted to “rediscover his best tennis” on the grass, Federer said in the run-up to the tournament in Halle. His last lawn appearance so far was the memorable Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic in 2019. “I really missed playing on the grass,” he said after defeating Ivashka.

Altmaier was eliminated in the first round

German professional Daniel Altmaier, on the other hand, will have to wait for his first achievement of the season on the ATP tour. The 22-year-old from Kempen, who was in a surprise round of 16 at the French Open last autumn, lost 2:6, 6:7 (4:7) to Australian Jordan Thompson in the first round as a wildcard starter. Since his success in Paris, Altmaier has not won a match in the ATP main arena in six attempts.

Alexander Zverev is looking to do better after his semi-final loss at Roland Garros, which collides with East Westphalia on Tuesday afternoon and meets Dominic Koefer. Jan-Lenard Struff (Warstein), veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber (Augsburg) and successor Yannick Hanfmann (Karlsruhe) will all be there early on Tuesday.

Sports Information Service (SID)