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By Chris Oddo | Monday September 3, 2018

 
John Millman

Australia's John Millman pulled the upset of the 2018 U.S. Open by stunning Roger Federer in four sets on Monday night in New York.

Photo Source: Jaime Lawson/Getty

Nowhere close to his best, but seemingly still sailing towards a two sets to love lead, Roger Federer lost the plot as he struggled to breathe in the sweltering heat, and he never recovered on Monday night in New York.

Instead it was Australia’s John Millman—a fit-as-a-fiddle journeyman who had never defeated a top 10 player and who was playing in the second week of a major for the first time—who surged to the finish, playing some of the finest tennis of his career as Federer wilted and struggled to find the will to continue.

“I knew I was in for a tough one,” Federer would later say as he told reporters how he suffered in the conditions and felt like he couldn’t breathe. “Maybe when you feel like that, as well, you start missing chances, and I had those. That was disappointing. But, look, at some point also I was just happy that the match was over, I guess.”

Millman went on to notch a stunning 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(7), 7-6(3) victory to book his spot in the quarterfinals where he’ll face Novak Djokovic, but the focus was on Federer’s status as he departed. The turnaround was so sudden and the shock was palpable. At one point Federer was serving for the second set with a 5-4, 40-15 lead, but in a span of minutes he had been broken twice and was even at a set apiece, all the while lacking the impetus to resist the inevitability of the developing situation.


To say that Federer lacked energy in this match would be an understatement. He was clearly fighting an internal struggle and his difficulties manifested themselves in high-risk tactics and a rapidly snowballing unforced error count.

Federer tossed in a total of 76 unforced errors on the evening and finished the match with a first-serve percentage of 49 percent, which is the fifth-lowest of all of his 393 Grand Slam appearances.

“Was just one of those nights where I guess I felt I couldn't get air,” the 37-year-old told reporters after the match. “There was no circulation at all. I don't know, for some reason I just struggled in the conditions tonight. It's one of the first times it's happened to me.”

As he struggled, somehow Federer still managed to keep things close with his high-risk tactics. He came to the net 81 times in the match, and stuck with Millman in the third set, even earning a set point with the Aussie serving at 5-6 in the third-set tiebreaker, but Millman by that point had found a really consistent, pulsating game from the baseline, and he got out of trouble and converted his second set point.

The fourth set was similar, with Federer holding close, but the fourth-set tiebreak was disastrous for the Swiss. Federer had nothing left and quickly fell behind 6-1 after back-to-back double-faults and other loose errors, before saving two match points.

The end was nigh; he could not save a third.

Asked what caused his serving difficulties in his post-match press conference, Federer said that it was due to the conditions and the difficulty he had getting oxygen to his lungs.

“When you feel like that, everything is off,” he said. “But, look, I've trained in tougher conditions. I've played in the daytime, you know, at 120. Some days it's just not the day where the body can cope with it.”

Millman, meanwhile, seemed to thrive in the conditions. A former training partner of Federer, he hails from Brisbane, a place known for its brutal heat and humidity.

Federer says he may have had better luck had he not squandered his two set points in the second set.

“I wish I could have led two sets to love and then maybe the match would be different, you know, and I would find a way, because I did have my chances all the way till the end,” he said. “It was just tough. I thought John played a great match in difficult conditions.”

Millman must be given credit for his performance. He finished with 47 winners and 28 unforced errors and he never wavered down the stretch, refusing to give the struggling Federer anything for free.

The Aussie was outside the Top 200 as recently as a year ago, after he had recovered from groin surgery. He came into the match ranked 55—Federer entered the match with a 40-0 record against players outside of the Top 50 at the U.S. Open.

 

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