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Wimbledon favourite Roger Federer should breeze through the second round when he takes on Serbian Dusan Lajovic, who hasn’t been in good form. Join The Roar for live scores from around 1:30am (AEST).
Federer came into Wimbledon off a tournament victory in Halle. Following a few months off Tennis after a great start to 2017, there was no questioning he is favourite to take out the biggest of the grand slams.
There is a little doubt after a first round loss in Stuttgart, but a straight sets domination of the dangerous German Alexander Zverev in the final at Halle left him feeling confident and hitting the ball well. Federer is mixing his game up well, playing expertly at the net and most importantly, hitting a high percentage of first serves.
It’s the game plan that has worked for Federer since the beginning of his career, and one he won’t be steering away from now on the grass courts at his favourite tournament, where he has won a staggering seven times.
The first round at Wimbledon doesn’t confirm where he is at though. Coming up against the inconsistent Alexandr Dolgopolov he took the first set 6-3 and then was leading 3-0 before his opponent pulled the pin and retired with injury.
Federer, despite the fact he can save his body and get off the court would have been a little frustrated. He has had plenty of rest in the last couple of months and is likely to have benefited more from a full three set hit out.
Lajovic, ranked at 79 in the world automatically qualified for Wimbledon, but grass is his least favourite surface. In fact, the 27-year-old has won just three matches on the surface throughout his career – two of them this year.
While that shows minor improvement as he got through the first round at Eastbourne and then again here at Wimbledon, it doesn’t say a great deal for being able to challenge a seven-time Wimbledon champion.
Unfortunately, his clay court form wasn’t brilliant in the lead-up to Wimbledon either. In fact, he had three first round exits in a row, including the French Open before making the semi-finals of a Challenger event in Todi.
Lajovic made his way past Jeremy Chardy in the first round at Eastbourne before getting beaten by the big-serving John Isner in a third set tie-breaker.
He came up against another clay court specialist in the first round at Wimbledon, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. It was a strong performance, but given it came against a player with similar skills on grass, it’s hard to get a read on form.
The pair have never played before this meeting and the winner will take on either Mischa Zverev or Mikhail Kukushkin in the third round.
Prediction
Federer will win – dominantly. It could be over in an hour and half.
Federer in straight sets.
Join The Roar for live scores fromm around 1:30am (AEST) or at the completion of Karolina Pliskova versus Magdalena Rybarikova on centre court and don’t forget to add a comment below.