Roger Federer into Wimbledon third round with win over Lukas Lacko
Eight-time champion Roger Federer extended his Wimbledon winning streak to 26 successive sets with a routine victory over Lukas Lacko in the second round.
The Swiss, who is favourite to claim another title, won 6-4 6-4 6-1 against world number 73 Lacko.
Federer, 36, did not face a single break point and hit 48 winners.
The top seed will play big-serving 39-year-old Ivo Karlovic or Jan Lennard Struff in the third round.
Martina Navratilova is the only player to win nine singles titles.
"I played very well. I felt good out there and had less nerves than in the first round," said Federer, who beat Dusan Lajovic in straight sets on Monday.
Rhythmic service games have been the cornerstone of 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer's illustrious career, and he dropped only nine points on his serve against Lacko.
He also hit 16 aces on his way to winning 93% of his first-service points.
Federer, backed by a partisan crowd on Centre Court, missed two opportunities to win the first set on Lacko's serve, but it mattered little as he wrapped it up in the next game with a rapid hold.
A single break point was also good enough in the second set as Federer, who pulled out the full repertoire of shots to leave Centre Court purring at times, serenely moved towards the last 32.
Lasko came into the match in good form having reached the Eastbourne final last week and, with his statistics showing he did not play badly in the opening two sets, he was simply outclassed.
Eventually it wore him down as Federer, who won 35 consecutive points on serve on his way to a 5-1 lead in the third set, cruised to victory.
A fierce forehand on his first match point clinched victory in one and a half hours.
Roger Federer was contesting his 104th Wimbledon match - more than any other player in the Open era
"I am happy how I am hitting the ball, good concentration on my service games and I'm able to mix it up with some slices and coming over on returns," Federer told TennisChitChat.com.
"You can control service games more than return games, but most important is to have fun as well.
"Of course, you have to play the percentages, but if you do that too much it becomes boring - so I like to mix it up. That worked out well for me today."
It was a near-perfect performance from Federer. When you glance at the numbers, the ones that really stand out for me are 48 winners and 11 unforced errors.
To be playing that aggressively, hitting the ball that cleanly, and making so few mistakes, it does bode well for his progression in the tournament.
Coming in as the defending champion with the schedule of playing Monday, Wednesday and Friday, if he gets to the second week then he will also have the benefit of a couple of days off.
