Roger Federer vs. Daniel Evans: Score and Reaction from 2016 Wimbledon
Roger Federer emphatically ended the hopes of another British player at Wimbledon on Friday, as he eliminated Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the third round.
The Centre Court crowd were right behind Evans, who is ranked 91st in the world, as he sought to spring a major upset against the 17-time Grand Slam champion. But just as he did against Marcus Willis on Wednesday, the veteran Swiss showed his unrivalled class to come through as a comfortable victor.
Federer, who is yet to lose a set this year at SW19, will face either Steve Johnson or Grigor Dimitrov in the next round; their match was suspended in the first set due to poor weather conditions.
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Evans had never played on such a big stage before, and in the early stages of the match, he seemed nervous.
Indeed, the veteran put him under immediate pressure, breaking at the first chance and rattling off four successive games. The home-crowd favourite did eventually get on the board in the fifth game and seemed to settle as a result.
He pulled one back on the Federer serve too, finally using the support of the fans to his advantage. But the damage had already been done for Evans, as the Swiss served out the opening stanza 6-4.
Sports journalist Colin Udoh was enjoying the performance of the seven-time champion, who seemed to be coasting through the contest:
Federer's ease continued into the second stanza, as Evans once again failed to start well. In a repeat of the first, Federer broke, this time to love, in the opening game before doing so again at the very next opportunity. With the Swiss 4-0 up and barely out of first gear, the Englishman had an enormous mountain to scale.
Again, it was the fifth game when Evans got on the board. But Federer was beginning to turn the screw late in the stanza and took it 6-2.
In the third set, Evans did get on the board first, although the chasm in class was widening and Federer seemed to be picking winners at will. The 34-year-old was simply too good for Evans, and once the Swiss constructed some masterful points to break early on in the third, the match was as good as over.
He added the gloss on the victory, breaking Evans once more to register a 6-2 third-set win and passage into the fourth round.
ESPN Tennis reflected on Federer's brilliant record on grass courts following this routine triumph:
"7-time champ Federer notches 150th grass court match-win, d. Evans 6-4 6-2 6-2. He's thru to R16 for 14th time. pic.twitter.com/tlwu0siUOf
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) July 1, 2016"
Afterward, the seven-time Wimbledon champion spoke about the importance of getting off to a positive start in each set.
"I got off to a good start in each set and that helps," he said, per Mike Dickson of the MailOnline. "It has been a pleasure playing Marcus and Dan, they are both talented and good players. It's always a pleasure playing these local guys."
The great man also suggested that top seed Novak Djokovic, who trails two sets to none to Sam Querrey overnight, can be beaten at this tournament. "I know we get carried away, we think it's impossible to beat him [Djokovic], all these things," he said, per Nicolas Atkin of ESPN UK. "Clearly he's beatable. It's not impossible."
Federer must have found the last two matches peculiar, and he’ll be glad to have gotten them out of the way. Having enchanted Centre Court so often down the years, he’s typically so popular among the Wimbledon crowd; it must have been a strange sensation for him to be rooted against, but he’s coped well.
While the crowd will get less partizan, the challenges will get harder. Johnson or Dimitrov will pose a major test for the seven-time champion, who wasn’t at his best in the buildup to these championships. The kind of swagger he's showcased so far points to a deep run in the tournament, though.
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