Roger Federer beats Dan Evans in Hopman Cup in his first game back after a six-month injury lay-off
- Roger Federer has spent six months out of action with knee and back injuries
- The Swiss legend won the game in straight sets in Perth on Monday
- He beat Great Britain's Dan Evans 6-3, 6-4 in the mixed team event
Roger Federer showed few signs of any ring rust as he came back from a six-month lay-off to beat British No 3 Dan Evans before an adoring crowd on Australia's west coast.
Playing his first match since Wimbledon in the non-ranking Hopman Cup mixed team event in Perth, Federer overcame Evans 6-3, 6-4 as part of a 3-0 win for Switzerland over a GB outfit that also featured Heather Watson.
Federer spent the second half of last season recovering from knee and back injuries and seems to have few ill-effects as he begins the new season aged 35.
Roger Federer has won his first game back after a six-month injury lay-off
Federer saw off Great Britain's Dan Evans in the Hopman Cup in Perth on Monday
Evans was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by the Swiss legend in the mixed team event
The all-court game of Birmingham boy Evans is well-suited to Federer, a good match-up as he seeks to find some momentum from his unfamiliar starting ranking of 16.
Afterwards the Swiss told a crowd of more than 13,000 that the domestic accident that ruined his 2016 was not going to spell the end: 'I got hurt filling up a bath for my children. It's not really the way I wanted to leave this game.'
The newly knighted Andy Murray begins his season in earnest on Tuesday by playing Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the first round of the Qatar Open, his opening ATP event after playing the Abu Dhabi exhibition.
Frontline British players are in action around the globe en route to the Australian Open, which begins a week on Monday.
Kyle Edmund beat highly rated American youngster Ernesto Escobedo 7-6, 7-6 in the first round of the Brisbane Open, and Jo Konta overcame Turkey's Cagla Buyukakcay 6-2, 6-0 in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Federer has struggled with back and knee injuries over the course of the past six months
Evans dropped his serve in the first game of the second set, which Federer won in half-an-hour
Federer emerges through dry ice for his game against the British No 3
The 17-time Grand Slam champion wipes his brow during a break between games
Supporters fly Swiss flags during the encounter in Perth on Monday
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