That was close!
Roger Federer had to play world no.153 John Millman in “his Brisbane” and that wasn’t easy at all. There was a strange combination on the court that could have produced a huge upset. First Millman was at his very best blasting deadly backhands from all over the court; second Roger was quite lethargic as he was definitely struggling with the weather; third the Maestro was clearly rusty in terms of playing a competitive match; finally the public was backing their compatriot.
Roger found himself in a horrible situation when, after losing the first set, he was 4-6 1-3 down . The Maestro managed to break back, but in the following service game he had to save 3 consecutive break point (0-40) that would have given a decisive 6-4 4-2 to the Australian. Eventually Roger found the solution to grab the second set and then win the 3rd set without struggling too much. Match Stats
Federer: I got quite lucky
During the interview the Maestro commented “I thought I got quite lucky. 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.
I thought he was definitely the more consistent player out there. He was dominating the baseline, so I tried to come in some and tried to mix it up. Basically I had to elevate my game, because he was not letting go.”
| I GOT QUITE LUCKY |
| NOT ONLY LUCKY —> Look at this! |
Next vs. Duckworth
Roger will play next another wild carded player, James Duckworth. Roger leads 1-0 in H2H matches.
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