WIMBLEDON: Second seed Roger Federer eased his way into the third round of the Wimbledon championships after cruising to a straight sets victory over Great Britain’s Jay Clarke.
Federer, who is bidding to win a record ninth title this year, overwhelmed his less experienced rival during the 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2, victory on Court One. Securing his 97th main draw win at the tournament.Whilst it wasn’t a perfect performance from the world No.3, he still managed to surge to victory with the help of 10 aces and 46 winners. Dropping only four points behind his first serve.
“I thought the crowd was great at helping Jay get into the match and he was able to do that in the second set,” Federer told BBC TV.
“He started to protect his serve a bit better and I struggle more to take care of business from the baseline.”
“Overall I’m very happy. I played a good match and I think Jay also did.” He added.
In a career spanning over two decades, Federer has never lost to a player ranked as low as Clarke at grand slam level. The lowest to have ever done so was No.154 Mario Ancic at Wimbledon back in 2002. Ensuring that it would stay that way, the Swiss player got off to a solid start. Capitalizing on his opponent nerves, who had the full backing on the crowd. A tentative Clarke opening service game saw both unforced errors and double faults. Enabling Federer to break immediately on route to a 3-0 lead. Clarke did fight back with glimmers of his talent, but he failed to derail his opponent throughout the opener. Who broke once more before closing the set out with the help of a serve out wide that exceeded 120mph.
The emphatic start to the match failed to dent the belief of Federer’s 20-year-old opponent, who continued to battle. Entering into the second frame there was little to distinguish between the two throughout with no break points occurring. Nevertheless, Federer managed to regain his footing in the tiebreaker. Benefitting from a duo of Clarke mistakes to seal the two-sets lead. Silencing British fans.
Averting danger. Federer eased his way towards the finish line by steamrolling his way through the third set. Dropping only one point behind his serve in the entire third set. In the end, the 99-victory was sealed with the help of error No.20 from Clarke.
“The tank is full because I have come into here (Wimbledon) with a lot of confidence from Halle,” Federer explained.
“The first few matches haven’t been very taxing physically. The first few days have gone well, but I know it’s only going to get harder.”
Federer has now won seven out of his eight matches played against British players at Wimbledon. His only loss was to Tim Henman back in the quarter-finals of the 2001 championships.
In the third round, Federer will play either qualified Grégoire Barrère or 27th seed Lucas Pouille.
