Roger Federer lost his temper over Melbourne rain as he overcame a sluggish start and plucky British opponent to move into a 20th-straight Australian Open third round.
The Swiss great, chasing his seventh title at Melbourne Park, downed party boy Daniel Evans 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 in round two on Wednesday.
In a rare daytime appearance at Rod Laver Arena, Federer flung a terse remark at chair umpire Marijana Veljovic, who asked if the court was still playable when rain started to fall late in the first set.
"It's always playable until a leg gets broken. I'd rather wait a little bit", the defending champion said.
The match was halted briefly before world No.189 Evans, on the comeback trail after serving a one-year ban for testing positive to cocaine, pushed the set to a tiebreak.
Evans had the set on his racquet at 5-4 in the tiebreak but lost the next three points.
Federer, who breezed part Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in the opening round, admitted his start was sluggish.
"I couldn't pull away early in the match. The margins were slim. I was happy to win that first set. It was big," he said.
Evans hit just two unforced errors in the first set and made 14 for the match, three fewer than Federer.
"I've seen him play some really good matches over the years," Federer said of the one-time world No.41.
"I see why he can cause difficulties to players. He has the variation, which is always a hard thing to play against."
The win means Federer has more singles victories at the Australian Open than Wimbledon - 96 compared to his 95 at the All England club.
He'll meet Taylor Fritz for a place in the fourth round after the young American beat Frenchman Gael Monfils, the 30th seed, in four sets.
