3rd seed Roger Federer (Switzerland) defeated Lorenzo Sonego (Italy) in straight sets to advance to the 2nd round. His next opponent will be Oscar Otte (Germany), a player whom I had never heard of before.

Federer didn’t play in the French Open the last couple of years, taking off the clay-court season to rest and prepare for Wimbledon and beyond. But he’s back in the mix and is considered a second-tier contender behind Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

There are no obvious obstacles before the quarterfinals, with either 16th seed Marco Cecchinato (Italy) or 17th seed Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) posing the biggest threat.

If he advances to the quarterfinals, it will be a tough road. He is lined up to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in that round before a potential clash against the 11-times champion Nadal in the semifinals.