• Wimbledon

Federer eases into third round

Roger Federer celebrates after his win over Gilles Muller under the Centre Court roof © Getty Images

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Roger Federer eased into the third round at Wimbledon with a comfortable 6-3 7-5 6-3 win over Gilles Muller on Centre Court.

The fourth seed wrapped up the win in one hour and 34 minutes, with the Centre Court roof coming out during the second set with play briefly suspended due to rain.

Federer sent down 25 aces in all, only losing nine points on his first service, of which he landed 77 percent.

Roger Federer served 25 aces and lost just nine points on his first serve © Getty Images

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"It was a real serving contest out there," said Federer. "I'm happy I made it because the second set was tough with the rain delay. I was happy to break him at 6-5 because I wasn't having many looks in on his serve.

"It's only been my second match, and it was a totally different opponent, a big lefty coming to the net.

"It's nice for the confidence, but on a different day it's a different opponent. Maybe next round I might not serve that many first serves or aces, so it is nice to get those aces and those wins like that, but I've got to keep working hard and trying to be consistent."

Federer also appeared to take a thinly-veiled dig at his rivals over the issue of slow play.

"If the points are short, I think there's no reason we as players take more than 10 seconds in between points," he said.

Federer made the breakthrough in the fifth game of the first set, a chip return setting up the pass which Muller could only blast into the net.

A second break, this one in the ninth game, handed Federer the first set after just 24 minutes on Centre Court.

It took Muller until the fifth game of the second set to win a point on Federer's first serve, but the seven-time champion was undeterred and held for a 3-2 lead.

Play was then suspended with Federer 4-3 up in the second while the roof was extended over Centre Court. After play had resumed, Federer pounced at 6-5 with another break to take the second set after Muller found the net again.

Federer broke again for 3-1 before closing out the victory, after which he confirmed he was fine following a nasty-looking slip in the third game of the third set.

"Everything was OK," he added. "I didn't think I was going to go down. I thought Gilles would go down the line. It is slippery coming forward, so I'm happy I'm OK."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd