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Match details
Fixture: (8) Roger Federer vs (Q) Denis Istomin
Date: 31 May 2021
Tournament: Roland Garros 2021
Round: First round (Round of 128)
Venue: Paris, France
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Red Clay
Prize money: €17,171,108
Match timing: Not before 4 pm local time, 2 pm GMT, 10 am EST, 7.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - NBC Sports / Tennis Channel | UK - ITV | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP
Roger Federer vs Denis Istomin preview
Roger Federer will make his Grand Slam comeback against Denis Istomin in the first round of the 2021 Roland Garros.
Federer and Istomin are both returning to the claycourt Major for the first time since the 2019 edition. The Swiss will be playing his first best-of-five match since his defeat to Novak Djokovic at the 2020 Australian Open.
Roger Federer, seeded eighth in Paris, enters his least successful Slam devoid of any expectations. The 39-year-old has repeatedly stressed he is using Roland Garros as a warm-up event for the grasscourt season and, in particular, Wimbledon.
That said, Federer has always been a crafty claycourter and surprised many with his semifinal run in 2019.
Things are a lot tougher for the Swiss this time around, given that he has had next to no matches under his belt in the lead up to Roland Garros. The World No. 8 showed glimpses of his genius in Geneva, but lacked rhythm for the most part and fell to Pablo Andujar in the last-16 despite leading 4-2 in the deciding set.
Denis Istomin, meanwhile, has not played a single main draw match this year.
The Uzbek, who has plied his trade mainly on the Challenger tour in recent months, beat Damir Dzumhur, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Tobias Kamke in qualifying to enter the main draw in Paris for the 11th time in his career.
Roger Federer vs Denis Istomin head-to-head
Roger Federer has enjoyed tremendous success against Denis Istomin. The Swiss leads the Uzbek 7-0 in their head-to-head, dropping a total of two sets.
Their last meeting was also in the first round of a Major (2019 Australian Open), which Roger Federer won in straight sets.
Roger Federer vs Denis Istomin prediction
While Denis Istomin still has a big first serve, his forehand has lost its potency in recent years. Given that the clay will further neutralize his shots, he will likely have difficulty hitting through Federer.
The key for Denis Istomin would be to prolong the rallies as much as he can; forcing the Swiss to play an extra ball or two might result in cheap unforced errors.
However, Istomin is not as proficient a claycourter as Pablo Andujar and is unlikely to outlast the Swiss over five sets.
Prediction: Roger Federer to win in four sets.
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