Federer admits he wilted in the New York heat
Defeated Swiss was ‘just happy match was over’ Conqueror Millman battles Djokovic tonight
One unexpected line in Roger Federer’s post-defeat press conference – which took place at around 2am yesterday – gave a sense of how uncomfortable he felt during his 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 7-6 reverse at the hands of John Millman.
“At some point I was just happy that the match was over,” said Federer, who also admitted that “it was very hot … one of those nights where I felt I couldn’t get air”.
The line was dramatically out of character. Even when short of his best form, the Swiss superstar has always projected a sense of joy and playfulness in his tennis. Yet here he was, admitting he was relieved to get off court.
The explanation had something to do with Millman’s unblinking excellence on the other side of the net. But the bigger factor was undoubtedly the oppressive weather.
Speaking yesterday on ESPN, Mary Joe Fernandez – whose husband Tony Godsick is Federer’s agent – revealed that Federer had not returned to the locker room immediately after the match, preferring to stretch out in the holding room next to the court. “He was not feeling well,” said Fernandez. “He took a long time to lie down and get his breathing under control.” This may have been a night match, but the temperature was still hovering above 30C when it finished just before 1am. Federer is famous for normally staying cool and dry-skinned. But these are strange times in New York, featuring such ferocious conditions that the tournament brought in an unprecedented “heat rule” for the male players at the start of the fortnight.
During day matches, there can be a benefit to performing in the bigger stadiums, where the high stands provide some shade. But as Federer pointed out, there are also disadvantages to playing under the huge roof canopy that arrived on Arthur Ashe Stadium two years ago.
“I do believe, since the roof … that there is no air circulation in the stadium,” said Federer. “I think just
‘There is no air circulation in the stadium. You have soaking wet pants, soaking everything’
that makes it a totally different US Open. You have soaking wet pants, soaking wet everything.”
Millman – a late developer who needed seven years as a professional to land his first tour-level victory – was also drenched from an early stage. But then, as Federer pointed out: “John was able to deal with it [the heat] better. He comes from one of the most humid places on earth, Brisbane.” Millman also managed to stay cool mentally. He benefited from Federer’s wastefulness in the second set, when a 5-4, 40-15 advantage went begging. But the key passage was the third-set tiebreak, and Millman’s great achievement was to risk everything with a series of gung-ho forehands.
So where now for Federer? The most popular response to last night’s defeat was to say that the 37-year-old “looked his age” – which is true, but could also have been said for almost any defeat that he has suffered over the past five years.
Clearly Federer was off his game. Even Millman admitted that “I felt a little bit guilty because he didn’t have his best day”. But he has also won 36 of 42 matches this year. Only Rafael Nadal has better numbers. And if Federer has another strong off-season, he will go into January’s Australian Open with a realistic shot at the title.
Meanwhile, Millman – who is 29 – will have to reproduce a similar level of intensity against Novak Djokovic tonight if he is to pull off a rare double. Again, he will start as an extreme outsider, but Djokovic has also been struggling with the conditions and left the court twice during the third set of his fourthround match against Joao Sousa.
The brutal temperatures continued yesterday at Flushing Meadows, forcing junior matches to be suspended through the middle of the day. Juan Martin del Potro booked a semi-final spot with his 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 win over John Isner. Asked how he had used the 10-minute heat break, del Potro replied “I take a shower and I retape my ankles and I lay down on the table and I didn’t want to come back. Because in this heat it is too hard to play tennis.”
Defending women’s champion Sloane Stevens was eliminated by Anastasia Sevastova, who became the first Latvian woman to reach a US Open semi-final. With a shadow running across the middle of the court, 13 of the 17 games were won by the player on the shady side of the net. Stephens’s 6-2, 6-3 defeat meant that Serena Williams, who was due to play Karolina Pliskova in her own quarter-final last night, became the last woman in the draw with a major title to her name.