Daily Times

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.

Published in Daily Times, July 5^th 2018.