LONDON, July 6, 2017
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer has secured his place in the third round at The Championships for the 15th time, as he defeated Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The 35-year-old Swiss maestro sent down nine aces, winning 81 per cent of his first service points and broke serve four times to prevail in one hour and 30 minutes.
“I struggled early on, I couldn’t get rid of the nerves and struggled to find my rhythm. I got back into the game after that and broke him; I started to play freely,” Federer told on BBC 2.
“I should feel comfortable here, and I do, but the problem is on grass if you’re struggling it can take a while. I wasn’t too worried.
“Nerves are a funny thing, sometimes you get horribly nervous and other times it’s a piece of cake. I’m happy it happened in the second round.”
Federer will next play Mischa Zverev. The pair will meet for the fifth time with the third seed leading 4-0 in head-to-head records. Federer and Zverev met at the Australian Open as well as in Halle on grass earlier this season.
Djokovic To Face Gulbis
Earlier in the day, Novak Djokovic has advanced to the third round at SW 19 for the ninth straight year as he beat Adam Pavlasek from the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in the opening match on No. 1 Court.
The three-time Wimbledon champion recorded his 235th Grand Slam match-win one hour and 34 minutes.
“It’s perfect. Exactly what I want. I don’t want to have any five-set matches. I had enough match play in Eastbourne,” Djokovic said. “I felt very good today in terms of my game and where it was from the beginning till the end. So it just keeps going in the right direction.”
Djokovic will next take on Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, currently ranked at World No. 589after a series of injuries and poor form. Gulbis, who came into The Championships without a tour-level win since 2016 Roland Garros and entered the main draw by protected ranking, upset No. 29 seed and former semi-finalist Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-4, 6-4, 7-6. The encounter lasted two hours and 54 minutes.
“I didn’t have my best day on court, and he played really well. He served so strong all the time. I couldn’t break his serve during three sets. I think he’s a very dangerous opponent to play on grass, and he did much better than me today,” del Potro said.
