Roger Federer Defeats Lukas Lacko with Ease at 2018 Wimbledon

Roger Federer eased through the second round at Wimbledon 2018 on Wednesday as he beat Lukas Lacko in straight sets.

The defending champion won 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 in one hour, 29 minutes and barely broke a sweat, despite Lacko doing relatively little wrong.

The eight-time Wimbledon winner will play either Ivo Karlovic or Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round.

At the start of the match, it was clear some are still getting used to seeing Federer donning Uniqlo rather than the Nike attire we're accustomed to seeing, per Tennis Channel's Jon Wertheim:

Federer's performance was reassuringly familiar, though, as he displayed his typical panache and class with some cute drop shots and trademark backhand slice.

After a solid start from Lacko, the breakthrough came in the seventh game of the opening set. A winner down the line set up two break points for Federer, and while Lacko saved the first, he sent a forehand wide on the second to hand the top seed the initiative and a 4-3 lead.

The Swiss maestro almost broke the Slovak a second time at 5-3, but the latter showed some resilience to save a pair of set points.

Fed held to love in the following game, though, and his numbers from the opener showed the focus with which he was approaching the match. He hit 19 winners, including six aces, and just five unforced errors in the first set.

Lacko was playing some good tennis, but Federer was simply a cut above as he showed in this rally early in the second:

The world No. 73's resistance wavered a little earlier in the second as Federer grabbed a break for a 3-2 lead.

As in the first set, while hardly playing badly, Lacko simply could not get close to the 36-year-old's serve, per USA Today's Dan Wolken:

Federer kicked things up a gear in the third, breaking Lacko in the first game of the set and twice more to seal the straightforward victory. The No. 1 seed won an astounding 35 straight points on serve before finally having the streak snapped late in the set.  

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Federer has now won 174 grass-court matches in his career to tie him with Jimmy Connors for the all-time record.