Swiss number 1 Roger Federer won the first round against Frenchman Adran Mannarino in the Wimbledon Championships on Tuesday at the Centre Court. After his victory, he was asked by an interviewer if “absence makes the heart fonder”. He light-heartedly replied, “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand it,” before breaking into laughter. He won the match after Mannarino retired at the end of the fourth set.

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The scoreline read 6-4, (3) 6-7, 3-6, 6-2, in Federer’s favour, and eventually, the sixth seed walked over to the second round. The last time he played in the tournament was in the 2019 final against world number 1 Novak Djokovic, which Federer lost in a fifth set tie-breaker. 

When asked if the absence made the heart fonder, he said that he had not understood the question. “I heard something absence and then, I don’t know, my mind went blank”, said the 39-year-old. When the interviewer repeated the question, Federer answered, “I don’t understand that saying”, prompting more laughter from the Centre Court crowd. “My English is not good enough”, he added.

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The interviewer later rephrased the question, and the 20-time Grand Slam winner replied, “Yes, there you go”, which drew a round of applause from the crowd. A good reminder that my English is not very good”, he added. “It would have been the worst to have this tournament with no fans”.

Federer currently holds the record of winning most Grand Slam titles along with Rafael Nadal. He has won Wimbledon Championships eight times.