Roger Federer lost his comeback match after two months away, falling to Pablo Andujar 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Geneva Open on Tuesday.
Federer's first match on clay in almost two years kept him on court for almost two hours in only his second tournament since the 2020 Australian Open. The past 15 months have included two surgeries on his right knee.
In the decisive set, the top-seeded Federer forced a service break and led 4-2 before Andujar rallied. The former saved two match points on his serve, but the third ended with a wayward forehand under pressure on the baseline.
ADVERTISEMENT
Andujar put his hands to his head after clinching victory and exchanged an almost apologetic smile with Federer at the net.
The 39-year-old Federer and 35-year-old Andujar were playing each other for the first time on the Tour.
Before going on court, Federer was a spectator for part of the ATP Tour debut of perhaps the best prospect in Swiss men's tennis since his own rise in the 1990s.
ADVERTISEMENT
With Federer watching some of the match, 18-year-old Dominic Stephan Stricker beat former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 7-6(5), 6-1 in the first round.
The Swiss left-hander, who served nine aces, broke Cilic's serve four times and was broken twice.
The results:
Second round: Pablo Andujar bt Roger Federer 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; First round: Marco Cecchinato bt Stefano Travaglia 6-3, 3-0, retd.; Feliciano Lopez bt Daniel Altmaier 7-6(6), 6-4; Marton Fucsovics bt Henri Laaksonen 7-5, 7-5; Ilya Ivashka bt Fernando Verdasco 7-6(5), 6-4; Pablo Cuevas bt Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 6-2; Dominic Stephan Stricker bt Marin Cilic 7-6(5), 6-1; Fabio Fognini bt Guido Pella 6-2, 6-2 .