Millman marches on
Townsville’s big hope bundled out of Wimbledon but …
TOWNSVILLE’S John-Patrick Smith has fallen at the first Wimbledon hurdle.
After qualifying for his second Wimbledon main draw appearance last week, Smith was felled by Andreas Seppi in the opening round.
Looking for his first win in a Grand Slam main draw, Smith lost to the seasoned Italian in straight sets 6- 2 6- 4 6- 1 overnight.
Fellow Queenslander John Millman overcame a line- call dispute and dogged Italian Stefano Travaglia to save Australia from a first- day Wimbledon wipe out.
Millman battled back from a set down to advance with a 6- 7 ( 6- 8) 6- 3 7- 5 6- 2 victory after Jordan Thompson, Jason Kubler, John- Patrick Smith and Ajla Tomljanovic all bombed out in the first round.
The 29- year- old was livid after letting a 4- 1 first- set lead slip and took his frustrations out on the official before regrouping to prevail after two hours and 45 minutes on court.
“I thought I probably wasn’t getting the rub of the green and this is high- stakes stuff,” he said.
“So I’m happy with how I composed myself and managed to get back into it with a bit of momentum and got through it.”
Millman’s victory set up a show- down on Wednesday with 2016 finalist Milos Raonic, a 7- 5 6- 0 6- 1 winner over British wildcard Liam Broady. After drawing Rafael Nadal in the first round last year, Millman has returned to the All England Club with a career- high ranking of No. 56 in the world after a rare injury- free run.
Having also played eventual champion Andy Murray in round three two years ago, the Queenslander isn’t daunted by the prospect of a show- court match- up with Raonic and the 13th seed’s huge serve.
“I feel as though I’m playing good enough tennis to make a real match of it,” Millman said.
“Everyone’s here to be beaten and we’ve seen that all year and we’ve seen it at the World Cup too. Some of these big boys fall.
“I’m going to go out there with confidence and by no means am I going to walk out on the court to make up the numbers.
“I’m going to give it a good crack and see if I can progress.”
While Millman marches on, Thompson’s fall from grace continued. A year after toppling Murray at Queen’s, the Sydneysider faces the prospect of needing to qualify for next month’s US Open after his 6- 2 6- 4 6- 3 first- round loss to 11th seed Sam Querrey.