Roger Federer into Wimbledon third round with win over Lukas Lacko
Wimbledon 2018 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club, Wimbledon Dates: 2-15 July |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs and the BBC Sport website and app; Live Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra commentary; Text commentary online. |
Eight-time champion Roger Federer extended his Wimbledon winning streak to 26 successive sets with a routine victory over Lukas Lacko in the second round.
The Swiss, who is favourite to claim another title, won 6-4 6-4 6-1 against world number 73 Lacko.
Federer, 36, did not face a single break point and hit 48 winners.
The top seed will play big-serving 39-year-old Ivo Karlovic or Jan Lennard Struff in the third round.
Martina Navratilova is the only player to win nine singles titles.
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Federer serves supreme
Rhythmic service games have been the cornerstone of 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer’s illustrious career, and he dropped only nine points on his serve against Lacko.
He also hit 16 aces on his way to winning 93% of his first-service points.
Federer, backed by a partisan crowd on Centre Court, missed two opportunities to win the first set on Lacko’s serve, but it mattered little as he wrapped it up in the next game with a rapid hold.
A single break point was also good enough in the second set as Federer, who pulled out the full repertoire of shots to leave Centre Court purring at times, serenely moved towards the last 32.
Lasko came into the match in good form having reached the Eastbourne final last week and, with his statistics showing he did not play badly in the opening two sets, he was simply outclassed.
Eventually it wore him down as Federer, who won 35 consecutive points on serve on his way to a 5-1 lead in the third set, cruised to victory.
A fierce forehand on his first match point clinched victory in one and a half hours.
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