Roger Federer appeared rusty in his season-opening match at the Brisbane International as he struggled to beat the Australian wildcard entry John Millman 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The weather was reasonably mild for sub-tropical Brisbane, where Federer lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the final last year, but it was the hot reception from the No153-ranked Millman that was to trouble him.
“I’m sweating like crazy,” Federer said afterwards. “Under a lot of pressure. I think I got quite lucky in the second set. He was playing great tennis.”
It was slow start for the 33-year-old Swiss who had a first-round bye. He wasted four break-point chances in an opening game that lasted seven minutes before Millman held.
Federer was broken in the 10th game, saving three set points before hitting a swinging forehand volley too long to surrender the first set to Millman, who was getting raucous support from his hometown crowd.
The top-seeded Federer dropped serve to give Millman a 3-1 lead in the second set. However, he broke back immediately, setting it up with a classic one-handed backhand down the line, and saved three break points in the next game to keep it on serve. That was when things started to go his way.
“First match of the season, you never know quite what to expect,” said Federer, who walked on court with 996 career match wins on the ATP tour, 993 more than Millman. “Credit to him for pushing it.”
Federer will face another Australian wildcard in the next round after James Duckworth beat Jarkko Nieminen 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.
theguardian.com
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