LONDON: Former champions Roger Federer and Andy Murray swept into the Wimbledon third round on Thursday as a fourth player from the women’s top 10 tumbled out of the tournament.

Seven-time winner and second seed Federer eased to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Sam Querrey of the United States, the world number 36 who has now lost all three times he has played the Swiss and has yet to win a set.

Federer fired 32 winners and hit just nine unforced errors in an 86-minute Centre Court stroll with Querrey able to carve out just one break point.

Federer will face Australia’s Sam Groth for a place in the last 16. “I’m very happy with the way I’ve played now in the first two matches. I’ve had a good run so you don’t want it to stop in the first or second round,” said Federer, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic last year.

“I guess there’s also a little bit of relief that I’m actually playing well at Wimbledon.”

Third seed Murray, the 2013 champion, was equally dominant, taking just one minute longer than Federer to reach the third round by seeing off Robin Haase, the world number 78 from the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4.

The Briton smashed 25 winners past Haase and goes on to face either experienced Italian Andreas Seppi or highly-rated 18-year-old Croatian Borna Coric.

“I started quickly and Robin was a little bit slower at the beginning and then he started to come back in it, he played better tennis,” said Murray, after his fourth win in five matches against his fellow 28-year-old.

Murray caused some amusement when he threw his wristband into the crowd where it hit the head of All England Club chairman Phillip Brook, who then handed it as a gift to Prince Charles’ wife Camilla who was sitting next to him.

“Normally you see who catches it. Then the Duchess opened up her bag and my wristband was in there, so he obviously had given it to her,” said Murray.

KVITOVA UNTROUBLED

Women’s defending champion Petra Kvitova reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Japan’s Kurumi Nara in a Court One little-and-large tussle.

The Czech fired 10 aces and 23 winners in her 58-minute win over the world number 57.

In the first round, she dropped just one game against Kiki Bertens, winning in 35 minutes. “It was a good match from my side,” said 1.82-metre (six feet) tall Kvitova, who towered over the 1.55-metre (five feet, one inch) tall Nara, the smallest player in the world top 100.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki made the third round with a 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) win over Denisa Allertova, the world number 83 from the Czech Republic.

Wozniacki, who has never got beyond the last 16, next takes on Italian 31st seed Camila Giorgi.

German 10th seed Angelique Kerber was also a winner, seeing off Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-2 while 2012 runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska, the Polish 13th seed, defeated Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-0, 6-2.

However, the women’s draw opened up even further when Russian eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova, a quarter-finalist in 2014, went down 6-2, 7-5 to unseeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.

German 18th seed Sabine Lisicki, the 2013 runner-up, fought back to defeat Christina McHale of the United States 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. Lisicki next meets French Open semi-finalist Timea Bacsinszky, the 15th seeded Swiss.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2015

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