Millman in last eight

AUSTRALIA’S John Millman is a back-to-back winner for the first time since October as he booked a quarterfinal berth on Friday at the ATP 250 event at Delray Beach.

The baseline warrior lost seven of his previous eight matches before this week – the only victory being over Feliciano Lopez at the Australian Open – but consecutive wins over Americans have changed his fortunes.

World No.91 Millman’s latest triumph was a 6-3 7-6 (8-6) result over 64th-ranked Marcos Giron that saw him reel off the last five points of the match.

Giron led 4-1 in the tie-break and then had triple setpoint to force a decider but he imploded with a series of errors, including ballooning two forehands long to concede the final two points.

It was a strange completion to a contest that started in similarly unusual fashion, with Millman racing to a 5-0 lead as Giron initially struggled to get a foothold.

“Marcos definitely lifted his game (but) it’s not just your opponent you’re playing out here – these conditions are really challenging, really gusty winds today,” Millman said.