Federer grinds Millman down in a thriller
MELBOURNE: Roger Federer looked defeat full in the face before rallying in the 10-point tiebreaker to edge local battler John Millman in a five-set thriller on Friday night and reach the last 16 of the Australian Open. It was a masterclass in grit from the Swiss, quite unlike the fate of sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, widely tipped as the challenger to the big guns, who went down tamely in straight sets to Milos Raonic.
This was Federer’s 100th victory at Melbourne Park and few of them can have been as hard as the four-hour, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4, 4-6 7-6(8) epic he shared with the teak-tough world number 47 on Rod Laver Arena.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion made an extraordinary 82 unforced errors to go with 62 winners in a contest that was decided by the extended tiebreak introduced to prevent even longer contests.
Even that was not straightforward for Federer.
The apparently indefatigable Millman held leads of 5-2 and 8-4 on the back of some brilliant tennis, forcing 38-year-old Federer to rattle off five straight points before securing the victory with a crosscourt forehand winner.
“Thank God it was a super tiebreaker or I would have lost that one. John played a great match ... he deserves more than half of this one,” said a relieved Federer, who will play Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the fourth round.
Moments before Federer wrapped it up, Millman looked a certain victor, hitting three consecutive winners that Federer would have been proud of: a backhand stop volley, followed by a pair of unplayable forehand passing winners.
“He came up with all that good stuff at the start of the tiebreak and I was saying ‘Okay, I didn’t play that bad’ and was getting ready for the press conference,” Federer said. “It was really Johnny who made it difficult for me tonight.”
It wasn’t enough.
“That’s what the best players, I guess, do,” Millman said of Federer’s comeback. “I’ll have to go back and watch it.
“Disappointed, left it all out there. Didn’t win,” said the crestfallen Australian. “It would have been great to serve an ace and put it to bed but ... I played some alright tennis to get there, to that stage.”
CLAWING BACK
Millman was on the front foot from the start and won the opening set before Federer grabbed the second on a tiebreak and the third with a late break of serve.
The Australian was never going to fold, however, and he pounced to break the six-time Australian Open champion for 4-3 after one of the many lengthy rallies that studded the match before taking the fourth set.
Millman also got an early break in the decider but Federer broke back and, as the crowd roared both players to the rafters, the match headed towards its dramatic denouement.
Defeat would have meant Federer’s earliest exit from a Grand Slam for five years but he would not have been alone as a big name departing after an upset on Friday.
TSITSIPAS FAILS TO CLIMB
Milos Raonic sent sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas tumbling out of the Australian Open in the third round Friday, with the Greek hotshot powerless against the Canadian’s big serve and pinpoint ground strokes.
Tsitsipas was no match for his experienced opponent, slumping 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2). Expectations were high for the 21-year-old, who stunned Roger Federer last year en route to the semi-finals. But Raonic, 29, had his measure, pumping down almost unplayable 220 kph (136 mph) serves while smashing 19 aces and 55 winners.
“Today was an incredible match for me. I’m really happy with how things went,” said Raonic. “I enjoy the energy here. To be healthy and playing well, I take a lot of pleasure out of that.” His win set up a mouthwatering fourth-round clash against 2018 finalist Marin Cilic, who battled past ninth seed Roberto Bautista Agut in five gruelling sets.
Raonic has form at Melbourne Park, reaching the semi-final in 2016, when he lost to Andy Murray, and the quarters on three other occasions, including last year to make it his most successful Grand Slam.
His career, though, has been plagued by injuries, with surgeries over the years for hip, foot and wrist problems.
Seeded 32, his lowest ever at a Slam, he turned back the clock against Tsitsipas, sending down plenty of aces in the first set to set the tone, with the Greek desperately defending and unable to create chances. It was more of the same in the second and third sets as the Canadian, looking for his first title since Brisbane 2016, turned the screws.
Tsitsipas said he simply couldn’t get into the game, but despite the defeat, he said he had learned to take it on the chin.
“That’s life. I have learned to deal with it,” he said. “Last year I wasn’t able to deal with it. I was heartbroken after my semi-final loss. This year is different. I’ll just keep going.”
EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES
Novak Djokovic trumpeted the benefits of his plant-based diet Friday in helping him thrash Yoshihito Nishioka and move into the Australian Open fourth round.
The Serbian defending champion swept past the Japanese 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in just 85 minutes on Rod Laver Arena to reach a Grand Slam round of 16 for the 50th time—second only to Roger Federer’s 67.
“I love playing on the court. I like the conditions,” said the world number two after firing down 17 aces, along with 40 winners.
The win set up a clash with 14th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the quarter-finals. after the Argentinian beat Djokovic’s countryman Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).
Targeting a record eighth Australian title and a 17th Grand Slam crown, Djokovic attributes his continuing success partly to his diet, having given up meat more than four years ago.
“I’m very pleased to be plantbased and play on this level now for four-and-a-half years. There has been a lot of criticism also. You know, people around me didn’t really think that I could do that,” he said.
“Hopefully I can inspire other athletes that it is possible to be plant-based and to recover well, to have strength, to have muscles.