Aussie Open: Roger Federer goes through against Dan Evans

Britain's Dan Evans succumbed in three sets following his brilliant performance against defending champion Roger Federer in an entertaining Australian Open second-round match.

Evans lost 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 against the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

But he never looked out of his depth, impressing the crowd at the Rod Laver Arena with his shot-making.

Federer will face either France's 30th seed Gael Monfils or American Taylor Fritz in the third round.

"I couldn't pull away early in the match - it helps when you can sneak in a quick break," said the 37-year-old, who is aiming to become the first man to win seven Australian Open titles.

"He played very well. It was hard to pull away, to his credit. I thought I played well."

“Like playing myself in the mirror' - Federer impressed by Evans

Before a drug ban, Evans, ranked inside the top 50, is aiming to climb up the ladder of rankings as he continues his comeback.

And the 28-year-old performance shows he still has all the skills to cause problems against the world's best.

Federer couldn’t hide how impressed he was with Evans who, like the Swiss great, has a game heavily reliant on a sliced backhand.

"It felt like playing in a mirror a little bit. That was the mindset I had - how would I play myself potentially," he said.

In their two previous meetings, Evans had never taken more than five games in a set off Federer, bettering that on Laver as he took the Federer into a first-set tie-break.

Until the 12th game, Evans had been relatively untroubled on serve, swatting off Federer's first break point of the match with a serve and volley and going on to hold for the decider.

He refused to be passive and dragged Federer to race into a 5-3 lead with a superb cross-court forehand winner, leaving him with the set on his racquet.

But, despite landing two first serves after having a 56% first-serve percentage previously, he was put to bed by Federer's brilliance.

Knowing he was fighting for survival, Federer increased the tempo and forced Evans to miss two difficult volleys.