Roger Federer was badly upset by John Millman in the 4th round of the US Open after he was firmly leading 6-3 5-4 40-15.
There were many speculations about what happened to Roger. He had his answer: everything was off.
Why Federer lost to Millman
During his press conference after the match, Federer explained that 2 factors were crucial: the humidity and Millman playing well in tough conditions. Roger commented:
“I just thought it was very hot tonight, It was just one of those nights where I guess I felt I couldn’t get air.
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. Yeah, it’s uncomfortable. Clearly just keep on sweating more and more and more and more as the match goes on. You lose energy as it goes by.
But John was able to deal with it better. He maybe comes from one of the most humid places on earth, Brisbane. I knew I was in for a tough one. 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.
When you feel like that, everything is off, so… 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.
I do believe since the roof is on that there is no air circulation in the stadium.I think just that makes it a totally different US Open. Plus conditions maybe were playing slower this year on top of it. You have soaking wet pants, soaking wet everything. The balls are in there, too. You try to play. Everything gets slower as you try to hit winners.
Again, look, I thought the match was tough. 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. It was just tough. I thought John played a great match in difficult conditions.”
After the Laver Cup, Roger is scheduled to play in Shanghai the 8th of October where he is he defending champion.
