Roger Federer enlivened a routine day at the office with a violet and pink outfit and several dabs of brilliance to launch another French Open quest but his mood darkened after a security breach yesterday.
The evergreen Swiss was in full control against Colombia’s Alejandro Falla, marking the start of his 62nd consecutive appearance at a grand slam tournament with a 6-3 6-3 6-4 victory on court Philippe Chatrier.
When he walked off, however, a fan sauntered on and began trying to snap a selfie with a mobile phone before he was belatedly removed by a security guard.
“I’m not happy about it. Obviously not one second I’m happy about it. It happened yesterday in the practice, too,” a ruffled Federer told reporters.
Tournament director Gilbert Ysern told a news conference that even though a mistake had been made and that the incident was “embarrassing”, there was no reason to change security procedures at the tournament.
The 17-times major winner, champion at Roland Garros in 2009, was the star turn on a low-key opening day in a sunny French capital, taking to the court after women’s third seed Simona Halep got the ball rolling.
Romanian Halep, seeded third after reaching the final last year, was made to work hard by 91st-ranked Russian Evgeniya Rodina, huffing and puffing her way to a 7-5 6-4 victory.
“It was a tough match, because it was the first round and it is always difficult to start the tournament,” Halep said.
Wawrinka through
Federer’s eighth-seeded compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, one of several players to beat Nadal on clay this season, was a 6-3 6-2 6-3 winner against Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori, the biggest threat to Federer in the bottom half of the draw, beat French wildcard Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3 7-5 6-1 before local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rounded off proceedings against Swedish qualifier Christian Lindell with a 6-1 6-2 6-2 win.
Germany’s Philip Kohlschreiber, beaten by Murray in a marathon match in Paris last year, dropped only three games against Japan’s Go Soeda, while Spain’s Roberto Bautista-Agut beat German Florian Mayer, also in straight sets.
Former champion Ana Ivanovic, of Serbia, reached the second round by beating Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova 4-6 6-2 6-0.