Roger Federer continued to knock British players out of Wimbledon, taking care of Dan Evans 6-4,6-2, 6-2 in 87 mins under the Centre Court roof.
Having ended Marcus Willis’s fairytale in the second round, the seven times Wimbledon champion was just too clinical as he accounted for Evans, the World No91.
Evans battled hard thoroughout, particularly in the first set, despite suffering an early break of serve and refused to let the seven times champion dictate matters. However, that early looseness in his play was very costly as third seed Federer served out for the first set in 38 minutes 6-4.
Evans’s task became even more daunting as he surrendered his serve in the opening game of the second set and while he continued to rally strongly from the back of the court, he did not have the firepower to put Federer under intense pressure. Minutes later Evans was staring up at the scoreboard showing he now trailed 3-0 at the change of ends with another of his service games taken by the World No3.
Evans showed his fighting spirit by creating a break point of his own only for the 31-year-old Swiss star to hold his nerve and his serve to the disappointment of the Centre Court crowd who wanted a long contest. Federer had other ideas and with 62 minutes of play he was holding a two set lead having taken the second 6-2.
The match continued a now familiar pattern with Evans desperately hanging in there but giving up a break of serve to undermine his cause. Federer turned on the afterburners in the third set to ensure he spent as little time as possible on court on a day of rain disruption which saw Wimbledon instigate the first People’s Sunday since 2004.
