Eight-time champion Roger Federer eased into the third round of Wimbledon on Thursday, beating British wild card Jay Clarke 6-1, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 to equal American legend Jimmy Connors’s record of 17 appearances in the last 32.
Rafael Nadal beat Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) n a grudge match to set up a third-round meeting with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The eight-time Wimbledon champion, who is chasing a 21st major crown, unleashed 46 winners past the battling world No 169.
“I struggled to take care of business a bit from the baseline,” said 37-year-old Federer who has now reached the third round at the Slams for the 70th time.
“Thankfully I played a pretty good breaker, I had some help from him as he gave me a couple of unforced errors.”
Federer and Nadal’s half of the draw lost two of the potentially more awkward customers in big serving duo John Isner and Marin Cilic.
Ninth-seeded Isner, who played in the epic semi-final last year with Kevin Anderson which lasted over six hours, fell in five sets to unseeded Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in just over three hours of play.
Cilic, the 13th seed and finalist in 2017, lost in straight sets to Portugal’s Joao Sousa, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Results
Men
2nd rd
Sam Querrey (USA) bt Andrey Rublev (RUS) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
John Millman (AUS) bt Laslo Djere (SRB x31) 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Dan Evans (GBR) bt Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO x18) 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/2)
Kei Nishikori (JPN x8) bt Cameron Norrie (GBR) 6-4, 6-4, 6-0
Steve Johnson (USA) bt Alex De Minaur (AUS x25) 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER x33) bt Taylor Fritz (USA) 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/2)
With AFP Inputs
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!