Roger Federer races through to third round at Wimbledon
The defending champion extends his run of consecutive sets won at Wimbledon to 26
Wednesday 4 July 2018 20:38, UK
Roger Federer continued his bid for a ninth Wimbledon title with another vintage display on Centre Court against Lukas Lacko on Wednesday.
Federer dispatched the Slovakian world No 73 with the minimum of fuss as he continues his immaculate form at the All England Club.
The 36-year-old defending champion and top seed, making his 20th successive appearance at Wimbledon, cruised past Serbia's Dusan Lajovic in just 79 minutes to win his opening match and he produced another masterclass to dispatch Lacko in 90 minutes and reach the third round.
Federer, who won 35 consecutive points on serve during his win, struck 48 winners and made just 11 unforced errors to record a handsome 6-4 6-4 6-1 victory.
Federer did not drop a point on his serve in the entire second set and kept that streak going until he was 30-0 up at 4-1 in the third, when Lacko sent a backhand winner down the line.
In total, he lost just nine of 61 points on his serve and broke Lacko five times, including with a dynamic forehand winner to close out the match.
"I felt good, less nervous than in the first round," Federer said. "Lacko can play well on the grass, he's won his fair share of matches. Not wasting too much energy in the first matches is nice to have. From my end, I'm very happy."
Federer will face Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round after a 6-7 (5-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 13-11 comeback victory over Ivo Karlovic
Lucas Pouille became the latest seeded player to exit the men's draw after a 6-4 6-2 6-7 (8-10) 3-6 6-2 defeat to Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak.
The 17th-seeded Pouille saved two match points in the third-set tiebreaker before eventually forcing a fifth set, but Novak regrouped to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Novak will next face 2016 Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic, who hit 34 aces in his 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) victory over John Millman.
Raonic reached the third round for a sixth straight year, having lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in last year's quarter-finals.
Sam Querrey, the 11th seed, stepped up his bid to emulate last year's run to the semi-finals with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-3 win against Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Frenchman Gael Monfils edged past Italy's Paolo Lorenzi 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) to book a clash with Querrey.
Now the 31-year-old believes he has discovered a new-found appreciation for his least-favourite surface.
"After years and years of improving slowly, finally I can say that I like the grass," said Monfils. "I'm happy, with the way I've played in these two matches. I'm trying to like the grass as much now as I like playing tennis.
"I've had to have the mindset that it's just another surface."
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Our next tennis action comes from the German Open in Hamburg. Watch the action live on Sky Sports Arena from Monday, July 23 from 10am.
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