After an easy first round win, Roger Federer walked back onto Rod Laver Arena for his second round matchup with Alexandr Dolgopolov fresh and rested. After only an hour and a half, the Swiss maestro advanced into round three with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 victory. While this match gave him more trouble than the first round match did, Federer still cruised through comfortably. Throughout the match, Federer's magnificent serving was the most dominant part of his game. In the end, the Swiss number one finished with 25 aces and won 88 percent of his first serve points, only losing six points on his first serve throughout the match.
Federer Cruises To Lead Behind Powerful Serving
Both players came out firing early on. Dolgopolov looked to be up to the test before Federer earned the first crack in "The Dolgo's" service game. It was clear from the beginning that Federer's service games would not cause him much trouble, while on the other hand, Dolgopolov might have some more issues.
After the first four games, the serving issues arose for the Ukranian, as the Swiss Maestro broke to get to a 3-2 advantage, attacking a Dolgopolov second-serve, sending a backhand booming for a winner. That one break was all the four-time champion needed, cruising to a 6-3 first set victory. He won a staggering 94 percent of first serve points. The Swiss finished the set out with his ninth ace.
Fed-Express Gets Late Break to Seal Close Second Set
Unlike the first set, the second set was a much tighter affair. The 34-year-old's serve remained dominant, as he won 87 percent of his first-service points (20/23 points overall). What's been common with Federer in the past few years, his Achilles' heel continued to be his conversion of break points.
Federer placed plenty of pressure on the Ukrainian's serve throughout the set, but he was mostly unsuccessful on his break chances. Federer squandered four of five break point chances, but he eventually got that crucial break in the tenth game, claiming a 6-5 lead before closing the set out 7-5.
Roger Cruises Into Third Round With Easy Third Set
After carefully navigating himself through the second set, Federer put his foot down on the gas, speeding his way to the finish line in only 21 minutes. It was clear from the start of the third set that after the tight second set, Federer would not have any trouble putting this match away.
The 17-time grand slam champ broke Dolgopolov three times in the set, taking it comfortably 6-1. Despite a few bad errors early in the match, Federer fixed the errors, glided through the match with 39 winners, as compared to 26 unforced errors. His serving was key and his movement helped him as always. He also continued to make good use of his net play, as he won 75 percent of those net points.
Match Analysis
Overall, Federer did exactly what he needed to do to win the match. While he was off on his groundstrokes at times, he made up for it with his serving. Dolgopolov did make some nice plays, especially in that second set, in which he kept himself within striking distance.
However, once Federer made a few adjustments and his serve and groundstrokes worked in unison, the match was over for Dolgopolov. While he did play very well, he was facing one of the best players in the world. Dolgopolov's one area of weakness was his serve in the big moments, as he finished with seven double faults, many coming in those bigger points of the match.
In round three, Federer will play the winner of Grigor Dimitrov and Marco Trungelliti. Federer faced Dimitrov only two weeks ago at the Brisbane International, where he defeated the young Bulgarian in a close three set affair.
Update: Federer will face Dimitrov in the third round.