Record-chasing Fed races through
THE Fed Express is heading full throttle towards a record-equalling ninth Wimbledon title.
Reigning champ Roger Federer can equal Martina Navratilova’s all-time best singles haul at SW19 with victory on Sunday week.
And the Swiss master, who turns 37 next month, is not hanging about as he races towards another crown.
Yesterday he destroyed Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 6-4 6-4 6-1 in 89 minutes on his beloved Centre Court.
He has now racked up an incredible 27 consecutive sets at the All England Club in a run of nine successive wins over the last two years. And against Lacko, Federer chalked up 35 straight service points and eight consecutive love holds.
Yet to face a break point this tournament, he will now face German Jan-Lennard Struff, 28, who took a minute short of four hours to see off Ivo Karlovic yesterday.
Struff took the fifth set 13-11 in an ace-fest which saw Croatia’s Karlovic fire 59 compared to his 30.
Playing down his amazing service stats, Federer said: “On certain days it goes better than others. What is important when you want to serve well is your point-for-point mentality, saying maybe the first point is as important as a break point. I reassess everything very quickly. In the second and third set that worked out very well.”
Federer could face American Sam Querrey, 30, in the quarter-finals.
The 6ft 5ins star, who reached the semis at SW19 last year, beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine in straight sets, then insisted tall guys like him get a raw deal on the tennis circuit.
He said: “If you’re 6ft 5ins and you don’t crack top 10, its like, ‘This guy is a waste of talent’. But if you’re 5ft 7ins and you’re top 200, they’re like, ‘You maximised everything and you’re an incredible
fighter’.”