Wednesday 07 / May / 2025
LONDON: Two days after creating a stir at Wimbledon with his new mega-bucks clothing deal, Roger Federer was back making a style statement with his dazzling tennis as he gave Lukas Lacko a 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 dressing down to reach the third round on Wednesday.
The Swiss champion was at his breath-taking best as he crafted 48 exquisite winners during a 90-minute match that seemed more an exhibition of his shot-making than a charge towards a record ninth Wimbledon title.
When Federer turned up to defend his crown in 2013, he suffered a shock second-round humbling by Sergiy Stakhovsky.
There was no danger of a repeat performance against Slovakia's Lacko, however, and a forehand swish on match point gave the top seed a 26th consecutive set at the grasscourt major.
Federer will face either Croatian Ivo Karlovic or Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff for a place in the fourth round.
Meanwhile, seventh seed Karolina Pliskova won a battle of former world number ones as she beat Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-3 to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the first time yesterday.
Big-serving Czech Pliskova reached the top of the rankings a year ago at Wimbledon despite losing in the second round — the fifth year in succession she had lasted only two matches.
From the moment Azarenka dropped serve with a loose error in the third game, Pliskova always looked likely to break that sequence against the Belarussian who is still trying to rediscover her past form after returning from having a baby.
Azarenka tried to fire herself up when she resisted some pressure to hold serve at the start of the second set.
But Pliskova broke for a 5-3 lead and was then helped by two Azarenka double faults that brought groans from the sedate crowd who had been hoping for something more exciting.
"I think I was pretty solid today, I think I was really strong on my serve which was really important," the 26-year-old Pliskova said after walking off court.
"Very happy with my victory as it is the first time I am in the third round here. The last few years I was waiting for a good result and it still didn't come, maybe this year is the time; I am feeling great."
She will play Romanian 28th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu next.
In the other women's match on Centre Court seven-times champion Serena Williams moved up a gear at Wimbledon to beat Bulgarian qualifier Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 6-4 to reach the third round.
The 36-year-old American barely broke sweat in a one-sided first set but was tested by the world number 135 in the second without ever looking troubled.
While the Centre Court crowd clearly appreciated the sight of Williams in full flow they took a shine to the plucky Tomova who battled hard to make a match of it.
Even ultimate warrior Williams applauded a couple of her opponent's winners late in the second set before completing victory in 66 minutes.
The 25th seed will face the winner of the match that followed her on Centre Court between Germany's Tatjana Maria and France's Kristina Mladenovic.
"It was better than my first round and I'm happy that I'm going in the right direction," Williams, who took her winning streak at Wimbledon to 16 matches, said on court.
