Federer sweeps past Evans, another crowd favorite, to advance to fourth round

SW34 is TENNIS.com's Wimbledon blog that will provide on-site news, insight and commentary about a pair of legendary 34-year-olds, Roger Federer and Serena Williams, as they look to once again triumph at the All England Club.

LONDON—Roger Federer is getting his fair share of British flavor at Wimbledon. For the second straight match, the world No. 3 faced an unheralded Brit across the net. First it was world No. 772 Marcus Willis, and on Friday night it was world No. 91 Daniel Evans. The Swiss was relentless, beating Evans, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

“It’s been fun playing Marcus and now Dan,” Federer said. “They’re both very talented and good players. I wish them the best for the future. I didn’t do the draw. Somebody else did the draw.”

The 26-year-old from Birmingham had his best-ever Grand Slam showing at his home major, having never won a main-draw match at Wimbledon before this week. Only one before, at the 2013 U.S. Open, had Evans been into the third round of a Slam.

Federer set the tone right away under a closed roof on Centre Court, breaking on the first game. Not letting up, he broke the Brit again for a quick 3-0 lead. Evans finally got on the board, but he was still down two breaks.

Instead of falling apart, Evans did the unthinkable—he broke Federer. It marked the first time the Swiss has lost his serve in the tournament. Now it finally felt like a match, but Federer held for 5-3. The 17-time Grand Slam champion nearly broke before Evans secured the game. Unruffled, Federer took the set 6-4.

Though the crowd wasn’t quite as amped up as it was on Wednesday—with the unbelievable tale of the peoples’ hero, Willis—fans were still very eager to see Evans put on a show on Centre Court. Evans knows a thing or two about pressure, having played on the British Davis Cup team last year. He lost both his singles matches, however, in the squad’s 3-2 win over Australia in the semifinal.

“It was good, a bit surreal actually,” Evans said. “Seeing him down on his end, it was tough to just get used to. So many people … different to what I am used to. I didn’t expect it to be so much on top of me. Everything’s so close.”

To open the second set, Federer broke the hopeful Brit at love and then raced to a 3-0 lead. The set was beginning to mirror the first, with Evans making far too many errors to truly challenge the world No. 3. Federer, for his part, showed off more off the flawless play he exhibited on Wednesday.

Again, Evans did well to get on the board without being bageled (a la Willis). Instead of letting another break befall him, Federer cruised through the second 6-2. The most energized the crowd got was during the set changeover, when Federer changed his shirt.

Evans has spent most of the year playing on the ATP Challenger tour, winning two titles and reaching two other finals. He actually spent a lot of last year one rung lower than that, on the International Tennis Federation Pro Circuit. Challenging Federer on the greatest stage in his home country was perhaps a bit too much to ask for.

“It was an amazing experience just to play him,” Evans said. “I think I played well. I just didn’t serve well.”

For the first time all match Evans put his nose ahead, holding serve for 1-0 to a standing ovation. But the hope was short-lived as Federer pulled ahead 3-1, looking well on his way to a decent night’s sleep after a day of rain and long matches. He sealed it cleanly, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

“I got off to a good start in all three sets, which helps a lot because then you can play a bit more freely,” Federer said. “He was under a lot [of] pressure. He didn’t get many free points off his serve, and on grass that what you look for.”

Now that Federer has seen off two Brits, there’s only one left: No. 2 seed Andy Murray.

“He’s far away in the draw, so I won’t be playing him in a while,” Federer said.

Next he faces the winner of the Steve Johnson-Grigor Dimitrov match. Though still a long ways off, he should cast an eye on what’s going on with his nemesis, Novak Djokovic. The Serb was down two sets to love to Sam Querrey on No. 1 Court before rain suspended play.