LONDON, (Reuters) – Top seed Roger Federer’s bid for a ninth Wimbledon title gathered momentum after he cruised into the third round with a 6-4 6-4 6-1 win over Slovakian world number 73 Lukas Lacko yesterday.
The 36-year-old Swiss did not face a single break point and struck 48 winners as he extended his winning streak to 26 successive sets at the All England Club.
The Swiss defending champion has now won 26 consecutive sets at the All England Club.
“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.”
Seven-times champion Serena Williams fired 24 winners past Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova to post a convincing 6-1 6-4 victory in 66 minutes on Centre Court.
“It was better than my first-round match, I’m happy to be going in the right direction,” Williams said.
“I’m getting there, I’m not there yet but I expect to get there not only for Wimbledon but for tournaments in the future.”
Serena’s sister Venus also progressed into the third round, but was forced to fight back from a set down to beat Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru 4-6 6-0 6-1.
The top seeds in the women’s draw continue to tumble as Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki suffered a 6-4 1-6 7-5 defeat by Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
The Dane became 11th women’s seed to exit on the first three days of the championships.
Play was suspended for the day after a spell of rain, with men’s third seed Marin Cilic leading 6-3 6-1 3-4 against Argentine Guido Pella on Court One.
France’s Kristina Mladenovic raced into the third round with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 win over Germany’s Tatjana Maria after action resumed on Centre Court under the roof.
German Jan-Lennard Struff outlasted big-serving Ivo Karlovic in their second-round match to win 6-7(5) 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 13-11 in three hours 54 minutes. The pair sent down a combined 92 aces in the marathon contest on Court 15, with Karlovic accounting for 61 of them.
Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki’s late fightback was in vain as she was beaten 6-4 1-6 7-5 by Ekaterina Makarova in the second round.
Russian world number 35 Makarova secured victory on her sixth match point after allowing Wozniacki to claw her way back from 5-1 down in the decider.
“I told myself I was not going to lose this match, I had so many match points, I forgot it and started over,” Makarova said.
American Madison Keys has backed England to bring home the World Cup after becoming a supporter of the Three Lions during their round-of-16 victory over Colombia on Tuesday.
Lucas Pouille suffered a shock defeat, going down 6-4 6-2 6-7(8) 3-6 6-2 to Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak on Court number 18. Novak, ranked 171, converted six out of 11 break points en route to victory in nearly three hours. He reached the third round of a grand slam for the first time.
Karolina Pliskova proved too strong for Victoria Azarenka in the battle of former world number ones, prevailing 6-3 6-3 in 72 minutes to enter the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in her career.
The Czech world number eight had lost in the second round at the All England Club for five straight years since 2013.
Milos Raonic, seeded 13th, was made to work hard against Australia’s John Millman before prevailing 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 7-6(4) in two hours 38 minutes on Court Two.
The Canadian made 39 unforced errors to Millman’s 18 but also turned up the heat when required, firing 67 winners including 34 aces to advance.
In-form Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu hardly broke sweat as she dismissed Briton Katie Swan 6-0 6-3 in one hour 14 minutes to book her place in the third round.
