London, July 4 (AFP) Roger Federer reached the last-32 of a Grand Slam for the 70th time on Thursday when he defeated British wild card Jay Clarke 6-1, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in the second round at Wimbledon.

The eight-time Wimbledon champion, who is chasing a 21st major crown, unleashed 46 winners past the battling world number 169.

"I struggled to take care of business a bit from the baseline," said 37-year-old Federer after equalling Jimmy Connors' record of making the Wimbledon third round on 17 occasions.

"Thankfully I played a pretty good breaker, I had some help from him as he gave me a couple of unforced errors.

"The tank is full. I came here with a lot of confidence, the first few matches haven't been very taxing physically.

"This first week has been going well and I know the opponents in terms of ranking will now get better."

Federer will face either Lucas Pouille, the 27th seed, or qualifier Gregoire Barrere for a place in the last 16. AFP

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)