Federer rolls into third round at Wimbledon

World number three and Swiss player Roger Federer on Thursday defeated British player Jay Clarke to advance into the third round at Wimbledon.

As Federer marches on, he equalled retired American player Jimmy Connors' Open Era record of 17 third round appearances in the men's singles at Wimbledon.

Federer beat Clarke 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2 after overcoming a neck-to-neck second set. He will next meet either Lucas Pouille or Gregoire Barrere.

The Swiss player seemed much sharper against Clarke from the start. Federer dominated Clarke in the first set as he won 10 of 13 net points. Federer hardly broke a sweat and sealed the opening set 6-1 in his favour.

Clarke gave a tough fight to Federer in the second set. The Englishman was stronger on serve and reached a tie-break.

Federer retained his momentum in time and went onto win six of the final seven points and the Swiss player managed to come out of the tie-break at 7-6(3). The Swiss player made no mistake and dominated the third set 6-2 to win the match. Federer now has 97 wins under his belt.

Earlier in the day, Japanese player Kei Nishikori cruised into the third round after defeating British player Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4, 6-0. .