Federer shines bright on his opening day

Roger Federer had to battle a strong but brief fightback in his opening round match of the French Open as he defeated Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4, 6-6 (7-3).

The third seed Swiss began well and took the first two sets without breaking any sweat. He slammed as many as 12 aces in his match to intimidate Lopez who was made to run all across the clay court.

The third set too began with Federer racing away in the initial stages only to have his 30-year-old opponent stage a slight revival. An interesting prospect at hand however was doused as Federer unleashed full fury to wrap the match up in his favour, in just over two hours.