Australian Open: Roger Federer battles past Daniel Evans to reach R3

Daniel gave his 120% to stay in touch with a great rival, mixing his shots beautifully and covering the court with high efficiency to make Roger run for his money and remain competitive for more than two hours before the Swiss took control to bring the encounter home and stay on the title defense trail.

Roger delivered better numbers on both the first and second serve, getting broken only once (in the worst possible moment though) and firing more than 50 winners and less than 20 unforced errors to earn the triumph fair and square.

The points were on his racquet, although Daniel did everything he could to stay on the positive side of the scoreboard and show his best tennis against one of the greatest players of all time, which he certainly did. Federer managed to break his rival only twice but even that was enough to propel him over the finish line without spending too much time on the court, winning the crucial points and proving his status of the favorite.

The Brit was off to a solid start and he found a rhythm that kept him in the first set, fending off a set point at 5-6 to reach the tie break where he led 5-3. Out of sudden, Federer won four points in a row to secure the set and he moved 5-3 up in set number two with an early break.

Evans saved two set points on serve in game nine before managing to break back in the next game, leveling the score at 5-5 and prolonging the set. Federer was at the top of his game in the tie break, scoring two mini-breaks for a comfortable 7-3 and two sets to love lead that he wouldnt let go.

Carried by this momentum, Roger lost just one point on serve in set number three and Daniel failed to follow that pace, getting broken in game four and allowing Roger to seal the deal with an excellent hold at 5-3 for his 20th appearance in the last 32 in Melbourne!

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