Defending champion Roger Federer showed he was back at the top of his game by sweeping Arnaud Clement in straight sets to reach the fourth round in his bid for a seventh Wimbledon crown.
Federer looked perfectly fresh as he demolished Clement 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, playing like the old grass-court master himself after being stretched to five sets in his first round match and four in the second.
Federer saved the only break point against him, hit 29 winners, made only 12 unforced errors and left Centre Court to a rousing standing ovation.
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“I get standing ovations 99 percent of the time” doesn’t matter if the performance was great or not so great,” he said. “I think they’re happy to see me, and they love tennis. ... But of course, when I end up winning, and they give me a reception like this, it feels good at the heart.”
Federer will next play Jurgen Melzer, who beat Feliciano Lopez in four sets. Federer and the Austrian played doubles together as juniors but have never faced each other in singles on the tour.
“I’m excited about having a weekend off, because it’s been a tough first week,” Federer said. “Not as tough as Isner and Mahut, of course, but still somewhat tough mentally. So I’m looking forward to Monday.”
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Roddick sails
Andy Roddick, served 28 aces in a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber to make the round of 16.
The fifth-seeded American broke four times and saved all seven break points against him.
Roddick missed his first match point at 5-2 when he dove head first in vain to reach a drop shot and landed face first on the grass. In the next game, he saved a break point and then finished with an ace down the middle on his third match point.
Roddick next faces Yen-Hsun Lu, who became the first Taiwanese man to make the fourth round of a Grand Slam. He was leading Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-4, 2-1 when the German retired injured.