If Roger Federer’s new appellation, “Swiss No 2 and father of four”, suggests Superman has abandoned his cape and tights for a life of low-key domesticity, Lukas Lacko probably has a different view.
In their only previous match, at the Australian Open three years ago, the Slovakian – who has not won a match on clay in three years – lasted an hour and 24 minutes. On the first day of the 2014 French Open he survived two minutes longer.
Federer flew too fast and high for Lacko, six years younger than him at 26 and 84 places adrift in the rankings, to win 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 on the opening day of the championships. It was about as soft a start as he could have wished for.
However, the perfunctory nature of the win again raised the questions about best-of-five-set matches in early-round mismatches in major championships, debated again in the pages of the New York Times on Saturday. The deciding frame against Lacko slid by in 26 minutes and proved little that the first two sets did not.
Federer, the world No 4 (a place behind his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka), might have been in a bit of a hurry anyway. He powered up his serve to max out at 200kph and hit seven aces from 61 attempts. He also carried his legs to the net 20 times, cutting the exchange short with 16 crisp volleys. This has been and will continue to be a feature of his game in the glowing twilight of an illustrious career.
For the first week, certainly, he will scare this field, as he brings a good deal of form with him and says he feels as strong as he has done in a while. The draw has been kind to him and he next plays the Argentinian qualifier Diego Sebastian Schwartzman, who beat the Portuguese, Gastão Elias, also in three sets.
Can Federer win a second French title to add to a cabinet at home heaving with 17 major trophies? Not many think so, including the man he beat.
“He still has moments in the match when he plays really well,” Lacko said, “but also there are a couple of moments when he starts to miss a little or make easy mistakes. The top, top guys can take advantage of this, so it will be very hard. Can he win here? I don’t think so.”
The man himself, meanwhile, appears to have regained not only his athletic sharpness but his equanimity after time off to be with his wife, Mirka, for the birth of their second set of twins earlier this month. And he was not getting carried away. “Rafa [Nadal] is the favourite,” he said, “then Novak [Djokovic] and then the rest. But it doesn’t matter who’s the favourite. We will see in two weeks anyway.” It is the familiar mantra of locker-room etiquette.
Something new about Federer was learned, though. Although he converses easily in five languages, he cannot speak Slovakian – the first language, obviously, of his opponent, as well as that of his wife. “For some reason,” he said, “I don’t understand a word when she speaks and it’s been, what, 15 years now I have been with her almost? It’s such a hard language. At least my daughters understand it.”
Furthermore the man who never sweats concedes that he has occasionally suffered mortal doubt. “Probably I was very nervous for the Sampras match at Wimbledon [in round four, 2001], because it was my first time on Centre Court, my first time against Pete. I remember the cold hands, nervousness, the pulse. It’s like the first time you walk up to a girl and talk to her, because you like her – that kind of thing. It’s just when you’re not used to it, it’s what freaks you out the most.”
He did not admit to outright nerves here but talked of “those hints of fear, maybe yesterday, maybe this morning at one point, just for like five seconds: ‘Oh, I really hope I don’t have to pack my bags today,’ that kind of feeling.”
That is exactly what he had to do in Rome, of course, when he lost in three sets to Jeremy Chardy on his return from a brief parenting furlough. It seemed to knock the stuffing out of him but he was restored to full confidence on Sunday.
What vulnerability there might be in Federer looks to be confined, then, to difficult European languages and the occasional slip-up against ambitious opponents. It would certainly be a seismic moment if Schwarzman were to do what Lacko could not.
Serena Williams is also a linguist of distinction, delivering her victory speech in Rome last weekend in what sounded like pretty good Italian. And her French has been solid ever since she made Paris her second home, handily for her coach and partner, Patrick Mouratoglou.
The defending champion made herself perfectly understood in the match that followed Federer’s on Court Philippe Chatrier, when she took 78 minutes to brush aside the low-powered challenge of the French wild card Alizé Lim, who is also a student of the Mouratoglou academy.
They hugged and smiled at the net but there could be angst ahead if Serena and her sister, Venus, both reach the third round, where they are scheduled to meet. Venus, whose health is a day-to-day proposition, looked strong and zestful in beating the promising Swiss world 81, Belinda Bencic, 6-4, 6-1.
