Federer rain slap

ROGER Federer has pushed through a clunky start and a brief rain worry to move into the third round of the Australian Open.

The Swiss great, chasing his seventh title at Melbourne Park, downed British party boy Daniel Evans 7-6, (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 yesterday.

It was a rare day-session appearance for Federer who flung a terse remark at umpire Marijana Veljovic after she asked if the court was still playable when a few drops of rain fell late in the first set.

“It’s always playable until a leg gets broken. I’d rather wait a little bit”, the world No.3 said.

The match was halted briefly before Evans, on the comeback trail after serving a oneyear ban for testing positive to cocaine, pushed the set to a tiebreaker. The world No.189 had the set on his racquet at 5-4 in the tiebreak but lost the next three points.

“I couldn’t get away early in the match. The margins were slim. I was happy to win that first set. It was big,” Federer said.

Evans made fewer unforced errors than Federer, just 14 for the match. “It felt like playing in a mirror a little bit. He has a lot of slice backhands also on the return. I maybe have a little bit more size ... maybe that was the difference,” Federer said.

Federer has now won 96 singles matches at the Australian Open, the most of any grand slam ahead of 95 victories at Wimbledon.

He will meet American Taylor Fritz for a place in the fourth round.