Wimbledon: Roger Federer flattens American to set up Marin Cilic duel

Swiss barely breaks sweat as he defeats Johnson in straight sets

Roger Federer serves on his way to victory (Getty)

The Disappearance of Djokovic has got those still standing speaking of a wide open men’s draw but they may be tickling that verdict slightly if they’d watched Roger Federer dismantle Steve (or “Stevie” - he’s from California) Johnson inside 97 minutes on Centre Court on Manic Monday.

Nick Bollettieri, the legendary coach and Independent columnist, writing on these pages, described Johnson as “a bulldog” before the match. There was the odd yap but essentially Federer made him look more poodle than pitbull and tickled his tum out of town in straight sets.

Federer mopped up the first two 6-2, 6-3, inside an hour, barely giving Johnson a sniff. The Swiss then threw the 26-year-old a bone early in the third set, dropping his serve for the one and only time but broke back immediately and broke again later to take it 7-5.

Roger Federer celebrates his straight-sets victory (Getty)

Johnson is part of the coming US brigade, his fellow Statesider Sam Querry is his doubles partner but they were knocked out on Saturday, Querry having had other quarry on his mind at the weekend as he beat Djokovic in the singles. For Johnson he is up at No 29 in the world, his highest ever position in the rankings. This was the deepest he had been in a Grand Slam and was on a fine run having won the Nottingham Open prior to heading down to SW19. He had won only one match in his three previous visits here but had beaten Malek Jaziri, Jeremy Chardy and Grigor Dimitrov this year. Federer, world No 3, though, showed there is a chasm of difference between the good and the greatest.

“I’m very happy with how I played,” Federer, who now faces Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, said with a splash of understatement. “It wasn’t as easy as it looked,” he added - which is just as well for Johnson because Federer looked like he barely worked up a sweat.

Roger Federer at full stretch during his win over Steve Johnson on Centre Court (Getty)

Federer, whose win means he has joined Martina Navratilova at the top of the tree on 306 Grand Slam wins, mixed up that lovely one-handed whipped backhand with ferocious forehands and then displayed the deftest of touches around the net with stop-volleys and drop shots aplenty – one backhand return drop shot off a Johnson second serve defied belief. The Swiss often charged the net to put Johnson, more power than precision, off his game forcing him to try to find the passing shot.

It had looked like 2016 might be the year Old Father Time finally caught up with the 34-year-old Federer: he had the first operation of his career back in February when he had his knee tidied up and he was forced to sit out the French Open due to a back problem, his first missed Grand Slam since the 1999 US Open. But he has looked swashbuckling in SW19 so far and is yet to drop a set. His tournament is unfolding even better than he could have imagined – and with Djokovic out of the road – the Serb has beaten Federer in the last two Wimbledon finals – he must have high hopes of winning his first Slam since taking the 2012 Wimbledon crown.

“I never thought I would win my first four matches in straight sets,” Federer said. “They have been tough matches but it’s good to have rest. You can always lose the tournament in the first week but never win it. I did a lot of things right.”

And now Cilic awaits after his victory over Kei Nishikori. Federer would like a measure of revenge after he was flattened in a Flushing Meadow semi-final two years ago. “He brushed me off the court like I wasn’t there at the US Open,” Federer said. “He’s a super guy but I hope to get him back.