Millman eager to take on the Rafa challenge
BRISBANE’S John Millman says he would welcome the physical challenge of confronting the “unimaginable force’’ of Rafael Nadal, if he played a third member of the Big Four of men’s tennis, at his home city tournament this summer.
The Australian No.2 vowed to produce the lofty standard of tennis that stunned Roger Federer at the US Open this month, when he proudly plays the Brisbane International for the first time as a direct entry.
Millman (pictured) yesterday became the second player to confirm an entry for the Brisbane International, from December 31-January 6, joining world No.1 Nadal.
The 29-year-old Queenslander’s rise in the rankings to No.37 with his win over Federer to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open means that for the first time he will not need a wildcard or have to qualify for a Brisbane International.
The seeds of that boilover win in New York were sown at Pat Rafter Arena when Millman took Federer to three sets at the 2015 Brisbane International and also extended two-time major champion Andy Murray to three sets at the same arena in 2013.
“It’s a feeling of achieve- ment for me to play my home tournament off my own bat,’’ Millman said from Germany, where he is assessing the recovery of a torn muscle near his hip.
“It would be brilliant to play Rafa at one of my favourite courts. I have a tradition of being drawn to play a star at the Brisbane International in the second round. I hope I’d play him a little later and go on a run in my home tournament.
“I have played a fair few of the big guys now, but if I could liken playing Rafa, as I did at Wimbledon [in a straight-sets loss last year] to anything, it was like a boxing match, just relentless abuse. It was a constant physical battle, every ball, every point, with this unimaginable force. He’s a machine.’’ Millman, who did not play a match for a beaten Australia in the Davis Cup tie in Austria last weekend, came out of his US Open quarter-final run with the muscle tear.
If it does not improve in the next few days, he will probably withdraw from next week’s ATP tournament in Chengdu.
“If it looks like it will keep me out, then I’ll probably start again in Tokyo [which starts on October 1].’’
Millman said he would have played a fifth rubber with painkillers if Australia had not already been eliminated.
Millman said he had been “a little embarrassed’’ with the support from Aussies over his Federer win. “It’s been a little overwhelming purely because I didn’t necessarily expect such a big reaction,’’ he said.