Third-seeded Roger Federer looked sharp in his straight set victory over American Steve Johnson in the Wimbledon round of 16, taking the contest 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 in just one hour and 36 minutes. Federer rolled to a two sets to love lead before the world number 29 turned up the heat in the third set. Federer, however, took control of the set late before closing the match out with a second serve ace.
The Fed-Express has yet to drop a set in the tournament. With his victory, Federer has now tied Martina Navratilova for the most Grand Slam victories in history at 306 wins.
Swiss Maestro takes first set in 26 minutes
The world number three came out firing against Johnson. After having an extra day of rest due to weather, the Swiss number one was surely prepared for this match physically. Federer earned his first break in the sixth game, ripping a backhand just as Johnson was approaching the net.
The shot was too much for the American to handle, and he hit the volley into the net giving Federer the break. The Swiss Maestro’s second break earned him the set, as he broke in the eighth game to take the set 6-2. The Fed-Express only won 68 percent of first service points, but more importantly, he won 67 percent of his second serve points. The 17-time Grand Slam champion was also very effective at the net, only losing one point out of nine trips.
Third seed continues strong form in second set
After the quick opening set, the world number three looked to continue his fast start. Both Federer and Johnson held their opening service games; however, the seven-time champion made his move in the fourth game. Federer earned a break point at 30-40 but was unable to convert. He earned one more in the game and took advantage, winning the point on a Johnson forehand volley error. The former world number one consolidated the break to go up four games to one. Federer held onto that break before taking the set 6-3.
Fed-Express rolls to 306th Grand Slam victory, tying Navratilova’s record
After winning the first two sets decisively, Federer faced a much tougher Steve Johnson in the third set. The American number three raised his game to another level. Johnson broke the Federer serve for the first time of the match in the fourth game, going up 3-1.
Federer, however, had no intention of letting the break stand. The third seed broke back immediately to get on serve before tying the match up at three games all. Tied at five games all, Federer made his move. The seven-time Wimbledon champion hit two forehand winners en route to a 15-40 lead before earning the decisive break to go up 6-5.
In typical Federer fashion, he closed the match out with an ace. The Swiss Maestro finished the contest with 35 winners as compared to 13 unforced errors. Johnson hit 23 winners and 21 unforced errors.
Federer downplays easiness of victory
Despite coming through this round of 16 matchup in straight sets, Federer restrained from calling this an easy victory, yet was still pleased with his level of play through four matches.
"I would have never thought that I was going to win the first four matches in straight sets, so I'm extremely pleased," Federer said. "The matches might be tough, but then the rest in between [is] great. You can always, always lose the tournament in the first week, but never win it. So I did a lot of things right the first week and from now, you really want to -- or you have to -- start playing your best tennis. I didn't think it was as easy as it maybe looked.”
The Fed-Express advances into his 14th Wimbledon quarterfinal, where he will face ninth-seeded Marin Cilic, who advanced after fifth seed Kei Nishikori retired during the match due to injury. Federer owns a 5-1 head-to-head record over the world number 13, however, Cilic won their last matchup, which occurred in 2014 at the U.S. Open in the semifinals.