By Chris Oddo | Wednesday January 16, 2019
Sweet 16.
Roger Federer notched his 16th consecutive Australian Open win on Wednesday in Melbourne as he took down British qualifier Dan Evans 7-6(5), 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach the third round.
It was a tricky encounter, particularly in the first two sets, for Federer but he was able to wiggle out of trouble in the first-set tiebreaker when Evans missed two consecutive volleys while serving from 5-4. Federer converted set point shortly thereafter.
"I was happy to win that first set that was big," Federer said on court after the match.
The second set wasn’t simple either as Evans broke Federer when he was serving for the set at 5-4 and later took things to a tiebreaker.
"I think I couldn't pull away maybe early in the match," said Federer. "I think he played very well, it was, like I said, hard to pull away, to his credit."
Federer, who struck 11 aces and 47 winners on the day, would race out to leads of 3-0 and 5-2 in the tiebreaker before converting set point with an ace.
Federer broke for 3-1 in the third set and dropped only one point in his final three service games to close affairs in two hours and 35 minutes.
The Swiss improves to 3-0 against Evans and 96-13 at the Australian Open. He will face either Taylor Fritz or Gael Monfils in the third round.