Millman begins in awe, leaves Federer awestruck
Australian springs to his hero’s defence after stunning victory
Roger Federer’s usual smoothness was gone, washed away in the river of sweat that plastered his shirt to his body on a steamy night. The world’s No. 2 player, a 20time Grand Slam champion and five-time conqueror of the craziness that is the US Open, was being pushed around the court by world No. 55 John Millman of Australia in their fourth-round match on Monday night and no one could believe it, least of all Federer.
His unforced errors and double faults were mounting against the man he invited to practice with him earlier this year. And the tension was mounting at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where a stunned crowd watched Federer unsuccessfully serve for the second set, squander a set point in the third-set tiebreaker and break Millman’s serve midway through the fourth set, only to be knocked back each time.
A weary-looking Federer couldn’t work his usual magic against the plucky Millman, who had never before reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam event. Millman’s improbable 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 7-6 upset of Federer shook up the US. Open men’s field and became an instant reassurance for the underdogs who believe and fight when reason and oddsmakers proclaim their cause is lost.
Humid conditions
“I felt a bit like a deer in the headlights against Roger. He had me on a string. He was manipulating me around the court,” Millman, speaking in an on-court interview, said of his shaky start. “He’s been a hero of mine and today he was definitely not at his best, but I’ll take it.”
Federer committed a staggering 77 unforced errors (to 28 by Millman) and 10 double faults, including two in the fourth-set tiebreaker. Federer fended off two match points but when he hit a forehand long the result was sealed, unlikely though it was. He had never before lost at the US Open to a player outside the top 50. “I just thought it was very hot tonight and it was just one of those nights I felt I couldn’t get air,” he said. “John handled it better. He comes from one of the most humid places on earth, Brisbane. It’s disappointing but also at some point I was just happy the match was over.”
It wasn’t until the second set that Millman, who looked around him in seeming awe each time the players got a breather, began to shake off his nerves. He was down 3-5 in the second set but pulled even on a double fault by Federer, held for 6-5 and came back from down 15-40 to win the 12th game and the set. In the third set, with the crowd growing increasingly nervous, he fended off a set point and won the tiebreaker with a good forehand followed by a long forehand struck by Federer.
Serving at 5-6 in the fourth set, Millman pulled even with an ace. He rolled to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker before Federer, again, couldn’t find any answers. “You just keep on sweating more and more as the match goes on and you lose energy,” Federer said.
So it will be Millman — who said he planned to wake up early on Tuesday for a football fantasy draft but hadn’t decided whether to take Todd Gurley or Le’Veon Bell — against Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals instead of another Federer Djokovic confrontation. Djokovic did his part by overcoming the searing heat to get past Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. “I’m really pleased with where my game is at, at the moment,” Djokovic said. “Getting into quarter-finals, ready to perform well.”