For a fleeting moment it felt like Roger Federer would suffer the same fate that had befallen Rafael Nadal in Doha: a first-match ouster. Instead, Federer fought back to beat John Millman 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in round two of the Brisbane International on Thursday.
Millman, a 25-year-old Australian wild card, had won 22 consecutive sets heading into this showdown. He captured two Challenger titles last fall before crushing Rhyne Williams 6-3, 6-1 in his Brisbane opener.
Armed with incredible confidence, Millman came out firing against Federer. The world No. 153 converted his fourth set point to break Federer at 4-5 in the first set and he even stormed to a 3-1 lead in the second. Federer broke back for 2-3 but soon faced three more break points on his own serve at 0-40. When the 17-time Grand Slam champion dug out of that hole as well, he was off to the races.
Federer pulled through the middle frame of play then dominated the third with breaks at 3-3 and 5-3.
“I thought I got quite lucky,” the No. 1 seed assured. “He was playing great tennis until maybe the last couple of games. I had to fight very hard. Credit to him for pushing me to the edge.
“I didn’t play badly, but maybe felt a bit tired at times. The first match of the season you never know quite what to expect. I am sweating like crazy. I am happy we had a good match and I got through in the end.”
Up next for Federer is James Duckworth, another Aussie wild card. It has already been an outstanding week for the 22-year-old, who cruised past a hobbled Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-2 before upsetting Jarkko Nieminen 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3. This is the second meeting between Federer and Duckworth. They faced each other in the first round of last season’s Australian Open, with the favorite dominating 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
As for Nadal, he lost in the Doha first round to Michael Berrer but is through to the doubles semifinals with Juan Monaco.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.
Topics: Atp, Brisbane International, Doha, John Millman, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Tennis
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