Roger Federer Eases Past Roberto Bautista Agut Into 2015 Wimbledon Quarter-finals

Roger Federer was back in formidable form as he eased into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon

Andy Murray might have put away the biggest puncher in town but he is moving towards a smaller man who simply does not miss. Roger Federer, it would seem, has found some knockout power to go with those dancing feet.
It is staggering reality that Federer, a potential opponent for Murray in the semi-finals, is the only player in either the men’s or the ladies’ draws who has gone through the tournament without dropping serve.



That has amounted to 58 games in these Championships, which included Monday evening’s demolition of Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Going back further to the grass court tournament in Halle last month, it is now 106 games since anyone has broken Federer’s serve.

The Swiss No 2 seed remains the only player in the tournament yet to drop his serve

Those are remarkable numbers made all the more impressive by the fact only two break points have been held against the Swiss since he arrived at Wimbledon.

Too bad for Agut that neither were earned by him; too bad for the rest of the field that the other facets of Federer’s game are not too shabby either.

The former world No 1 will face Frenchman Gilles Simon in what will be his 45th Grand Slam quarter-final

Aged 32 and in pursuit of his eighth Wimbledon title, it simply should not be this straightforward, even if Federer is the second seed and the greatest male player to pick up a racket.

Agut seemed resigned to being a footnote in another man’s story as early as the fifth game of the first set, when Federer broke for the first time.

He broke again in the seventh and took the set 6-2 in 19 minutes. It was brutal at times, Federer hitting 10 winners and only two unforced errors.



He broke in the first game of the second and was leading 3-2 when Agut slipped and required treatment. It amounted to a decent chunk of the 87 minutes this match lasted. Upon resuming Federer did not drop another game to take the set 6-2 and broke twice to win the third 6-3.

Next up he faces Gilles Simon. Federer said: ‘This is my best court to play tennis on so I was happy to get out of the blocks early. I started to get rolling.

‘You have to adjust to every player you play against. It is about controlling your own serve and trying your best on their serve. I had to dig deep on defence. It was good to play a baseliner.’

On Simon, he added: ‘He is one of the best counter punchers in the game but he has capacity to come forward. It is nice to see him getting going on the grass.

‘It is a great win for him against Tomas Berdych. I hope to stop his run now.’