Seventeen-time grand slam winner Roger Federer marked his long-awaited comeback with a confident straight-sets victory over Britain’s Dan Evans in the Hopman Cup.
The 35-year-old Swiss, representing his nation in the mixed team event that he first won back in 2001, needed only an hour and three minutes to dispatch Birmingham’s Evans 6-3 6-4 in Perth.
"I was quite emotional when I walked on to be honest. It was better than I thought it was going to be"
- Federer on his #HopmanCup return pic.twitter.com/bReDO3JMBi — Hopman Cup (@hopmancup) January 2, 2017
Despite missing six months of action with knee and back injuries, Federer showed no signs of rust as he opened the singles showdown with an ace, breaking Evans in the sixth game of the first set.
Roger Federer
The British number three effectively handed Federer the match by dropping his serve in the second-set opener and half an hour later, the older man had put one point on the board for Switzerland.