Roger Federer unconcerned about Roland Garros, remains focused on Wimbledon

Roger Federer's much anticipated comeback was over sooner than he expected after he was beaten in his first match at the Geneva Open. The 20-time men's singles Grand Slam champion admitted that his focus remains on being match fit for the grass court season rather than Roland Garros.

The former world No.1, who got a bye in the first round, went down to Pablo Andujar in three sets in the round-of-16 clash despite being up a break and leading 4-3 in the final set. Federer lost 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 in one hour and 52 minutes and admitted after that he was disappointed with his overall performance.

"It's good to be back on the court, but then you lost a match like this and you're down. It never feels great. I was looking forward to playing here, no doubt about it," Federer said, as quoted on the ATP Tour website.

"But this is a press conference where I have to explain how I feel about losing, which is never the greatest way of trying to explain why and how it all happened. But of course there were moments where I was really happy to entertain the crowd and [I was] looking at the long road that I've been on from the comeback."

Federer was playing in his first match since March when he competed at the Doha Open but has since been recovering from a long-term knee injury. He chose the Geneva Open as a warm up ahead of his return to the French Open in Paris later this month.

"Sure, it's rewarding to be back on a tennis court. But I expect better from myself. I feel like in practice I've been playing better, even in practice here. But then again as we know, matches are a different animal. I've got my work cut out there," he added.

The Geneva Open was only Federer's second tournament since the 2020 Australian Open. During the interval, the Swiss maestro underwent two arthroscopic right knee surgeries. He accepts that it will take him at least a few matches to get up to speed and made it clear that Roland Garros was not his target but the forthcoming grass court season after the French Open.

"Roland Garros is not the goal. The goal is the grass, so I still have time," Federer said. "I'm disappointed for the tournament more than anything. I wish I could have stayed around and played some more matches for the people here because the atmosphere still is, considering [the circumstances], very good, and they seemed very happy to see me here."