Having won four of the past five Grand Slams, Novak Djokovic’s position on the all-time Grand Slam titles leader board is looking better than ever. And, on the eve of the US Open, the World No. 1 made it clear that he was aiming for the top spot on that list.

Djokovic arrives in Flushing Meadows with his sights set on a 17th Grand Slam crown, which, if achieved, would bring him to within one title of second-placed Rafael Nadal (18) and three shy of all-time leader Roger Federer (20).

”I’m aware of [the debate around the Grand Slam titles leaderboard]. I mean, I’m part of this world. Of course, I can’t completely switch off and eliminate what people are talking about,” said Djokovic.

”It’s flattering, obviously. But at the same time, you know, it’s still a very long way ahead of me. It does also put a certain level of responsibility to me as well, because I am aiming to do that. It’s definitely one of my ambitions and goals. I am 32, so things are a little bit different than they were 10 years ago, but I still feel young inside and outside. I am still very motivated to keep going.”

Last month, Djokovic saved two championship points to beat Federer 13-12 in the fifth set of an instant-classic Wimbledon final. The victory marked Djokovic’s fifth title run at SW19 and denied Federer a place in the history books as the oldest Grand Slam champion in the Open Era at 37 years, 340 days.

Djokovic’s win against Federer at the All England Club was his third in a Wimbledon final against his great rival (2014, ’15) and will live long in the memory of the Serbian, who shares the top half of the US Open draw with third seed Federer. Djokovic placed this year’s Wimbledon win against the Swiss alongside his 2012 Australian Open final victory against Nadal as one of the greatest matches of his career.

“It’s [in the] top two matches I have ever played… The other match is the one against Nadal in the finals of [the 2012] Australian Open which went for almost six hours,” said Djokovic. “So, those two matches really are very special and take a special place in my career and my mind as well.

“I do still have flashes from the 2012 Australian Open match still that many years after. Of course, I would wish to remember the Wimbledon final against Roger this year for many years to come.”

Due to the fast-paced nature of life on the ATP Tour, there is rarely time to take a moment to reflect on milestone victories. But Djokovic’s recent dominance at the Grand Slam level does provide the Serbian with a strong belief in his abilities and a desire to achieve even greater success in the sport.

”Once I’m done with my career or maybe slowing down the pace with tournaments, I guess I’ll have more time to really reflect on everything and look at those matches… It’s really hard to look back too much,” said Djokovic.

”Of course, you’re looking back and then it awakens certain kind of emotions that, of course, are positive and it allows you to awaken that confidence in you, the belief and the motivation. It inspires you to again keep going and trying to reach more historic results. But at the same time, you have to stay in the present moment.”

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Heading into the US Open as the defending champion for the third time in his career, the Serbian will be attempting to successfully defend his title in New York for the first time. Djokovic has reached the final in seven of his eight most recent appearances at the final Grand Slam of the year and owns a 69-10 record at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

“I, personally, have enjoyed lots of success and have been blessed to play well on these courts here at the US Open, especially the Arthur Ashe Stadium,” said Djokovic. “I have not lost too many matches in my career playing night session, and a lot of matches that I get to play in Arthur Ashe Stadium are night sessions. So, I really do enjoy that loud atmosphere that happens in there, which is quite the opposite of, for example, Wimbledon, except the last finals match.

“And I think you just adjust to it. You adapt to it. You accept it. You embrace it. I do embrace it because I think it’s good for our sport to have various different atmospheres on the centre courts of four different Grand Slams.”

With Federer and Nadal also looking to add to their Grand Slam trophy collections and stretch their lead against Djokovic, this coming fortnight could see the Grand Slam leader board dynamic change yet again. For Djokovic, his first mission will be to get past first-round opponent Roberto Carballes Baena. Achieving his ultimate goal will take time, effort and a lot more winning.

Hubert Hurkacz made Polish history at the Winston-Salem Open on Saturday, beating Benoit Paire 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to capture his first ATP Tour trophy.

The 22-year-old became the first Pole to capture a tour-level crown since Wojtek Fibak’s WCT Chicago title run in 1982. Hurkacz broke serve on five occasions throughout the two-hour, nine-minute clash to improve his tour-level record to 23-18 in 2019.

The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier becomes the 14th first-time champion on the ATP Tour in 2019 after improving his record against French players this year to 5-1. Players trying to win their first ATP Tour title are 14-17 in championship matches this season (13-11 in 2018).

First-Time ATP Champions In 2019

Last year, Hurkacz was placed No. 109 in the ATP Rankings. The World No. 41 achieved his career-high No. 40 ATP Ranking on 12 August and is projected to reach a new career-high when the latest standings are released on Monday.

After coming from a set down to defeat Duckhee Lee in his opening match, Hurkacz defeated four consecutive seeded opponents to take the title in North Carolina. The third seed beat 16th seed Feliciano Lopez, 10th seed Frances Tiafoe, second seed Denis Shapovalov and top seed Paire to claim the trophy.

After trading breaks early in the first set, Hurkacz played with consistency from the baseline and anticipated well to claim consecutive games for a 4-1 advantage. The 6’5” Pole earned three straight service points from 15/30 to take the opener after 35 minutes.

Paire grabbed the crucial break of the second set in the eighth game, moving up the court and capitalising on errors from his opponent to serve for the set. The Frenchman forced a decider with his sixth ace of the set before a slight delay to play due to rain.

Despite the rain, the pattern of the opening two sets was followed in set three as both players broke serve in the opening stages. But it was Hurkacz who played his best tennis in the latter stages of the match, breaking serve to love with deep returns before moving a game away from victory by dictating play with his serve and forehand. The Pole converted his first championship point on serve as Paire fired a cross-court forehand into the net.

Paire was bidding to improve to 3-0 in tour-level championship matches this season. Earlier this year, the 30-year-old triumphed at clay-court events in Marrakech and Lyon.

Hurkacz earns 250 ATP Ranking points and collects $96,505 in prize money. Paire receives 150 ATP Ranking points and $56,000.

“Mr. Bhupathi, can you please look at my game?”

Nine words. One critical question. It was the moment Sumit Nagal’s career was born.

Without those nine words, he would not be among the 200 best players in the world. He would not have qualified for the US Open on Friday, storming back from a set and 0-3 down in the final round. And he would not be making his Grand Slam debut on opening night against Roger Federer, in front of thousands on Arthur Ashe Stadium and millions more watching around the world.

Simply put, without those nine words, Nagal says he would not be playing tennis.

***

Flash forward 12 years. It was an overcast Friday afternoon at Flushing Meadows, with rain showers delaying the start of play by two hours. Nagal had reached the final round of qualifying, but his dreams of punching his ticket to a first Grand Slam were teetering on the brink. Standing on a packed Court 4, with a berth in the US Open main draw on the line, the 22-year-old was just three games from the exit.

Trailing by a set and a break to a red-hot Joao Menezes, he would mount a stunning comeback. Nagal flipped the script in a flash, reeling off six of the next seven games to force a decider. There, he sprinted to a double break lead and never looked back.

And just hours later, the experience became even more unbelievable. As he sat in the locker room, trying to process what he just achieved, he received a text from his coach: ‘Nagal Federer Monday night’. It was all happening for the World No. 190.

“It feels amazing,” Nagal told ATPTour.com. “The last three Grand Slams I played I was in qualies and I didn’t win a round… Playing the main draw of a Slam feels great. It’s what everyone dreams of. And to play against Federer, I’ve wanted this. I was telling my friends this yesterday. When people told me that Federer plays a qualifier, I was thinking how much I’ve always wanted this.”

Nagal’s eyes grew wide as he enthusiastically hit the table in front of him.

“I want to play him. It doesn’t matter. It’s not about winning or losing all the time. It’s just the experience. It’s playing someone who has 20 Grand Slams.”

The exuberance in Nagal’s voice continues to rise. His passion is palpable.

“There’s just so much excitement. I’ve seen him play 50 matches here. And the energy playing at night at the US Open is insane. I’m very, very excited. I’m going to bed happy, with a smile on my face.

“I don’t care what the commentators will be saying about me on TV. I’m going to be enjoying the crowd, playing the best tennis player ever. I’m just some dude from India. I’m fine with that until I make my name. That’s it.”

Many players grow up idolising Federer, but Nagal admits that he isn’t one of them. While he admires everything the Swiss has accomplished and reveres him for his impact on the game, he offers an interesting reason why he’s never tried to emulate him.

“He’s just too good. You never want to copy him. If you watch Federer and what he’s doing with the ball and then you try to do the same, you’re just going to break your racquets. It’s never going to happen. That’s why he’s not my idol. Just too good. That’s how I see it.”

***

Nagal’s story began many years before he stepped on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Flash back to 2005, when the Jhajjar native was eight years old.

In Japan, they play baseball. In Brazil, football is life. But in India, cricket is religion. Nagal grew up wanting to pursue his nation’s most popular sport, often playing for eight to 10 hours a day, but his father dissuaded him. Suresh Nagal would take his son to the local sports club and upon seeing the tennis courts there, he grabbed a racquet and started hitting.

“The first day, I played a member of the club and put one ball in the court. I was so happy. After 40 minutes, I put one ball in and I was like ‘yeah dad!’. In six months, I got better and better after so many hours. My father believed in hours over talent. When you’re eight, it’s pretty late to start tennis.”

Then, just two years later, the moment that would launch his tennis career had finally arrived. Indian legend Mahesh Bhupathi was holding a selection, akin to tryouts, for admittance into his academy. One of the cities where the selection was held was in New Delhi, just 40 kilometres from Nagal’s hometown.

That’s where Nagal uttered those nine words that he believes changed his life.

“I was hitting with the other kids and there was a moment where I went to Mahesh and said, ‘Mr. Bhupathi, could you please look at my game?’. I knew who he was, so I grabbed his hand and asked him to look at my game. After that, it’s apparently when he told my family that they’re going to take me.

“That’s the one line that changed my life. If I didn’t tell him this, I would not be sitting here right now. My family didn’t have enough money to support me when I was young. I couldn’t have played tennis. If I didn’t show guts and go up to him, I tell you I wouldn’t be here in New York today. I’m 100 per cent sure. I’m very proud that I did it at that age.”

Nagal was one of a few thousand people there, with only three getting selected by Bhupathi. Now, he is looking to put India back on the tennis map.

Gone are the glory days of Vijay Amritraj, Leander Paes and Bhupathi. But, for the first time in more than two decades, there will be multiple players from India competing in singles at a Grand Slam. In 1998, it was Bhupathi and Paes at Wimbledon. Now, Nagal joins countryman Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the main draw at the US Open.

The nation has had a bevy of new faces emerge on tour in recent years, with Gunneswaran cracking the Top 100, Ramkumar Ramanathan reaching an ATP Tour final in Newport last year and Yuki Bhambri competing in six Slams. But none are as young as Nagal.

“I play for my family. We don’t have a tennis family. It’s just very, very random. When I won junior Wimbledon – in doubles – you should have seen the tears in my parents’ eyes. I play for them and my country. I’m very proud playing for India. My goal in tennis is to do really well. Not just being 80 or 90 in the world. So people aren’t saying that India is only good at cricket. People don’t say it’s an amazing tennis country anymore and I want to be the one that leads that.”

Off the court, Nagal’s passions include Japanese culture. He has a full sleeve of tattoos on his left arm, depicting a temple, a samurai and a lotus flower. He says the Japanese peoples’ pride and attitude towards life gives him energy.

The right-hander currently trains at Nensel Academy in Germany, having moved there exactly one year ago. His head coach is club director Sascha Nensel, with fitness director Milos Galecic traveling with him to New York. Nensel used to work with former World No. 4 Nicolas Kiefer and WTA star Julia Goerges.

Nagal’s results speak for themselves. Up to a career-high No. 190 in the ATP Rankings, he is steadily plotting his ascent. Nearly two years removed from his lone ATP Challenger Tour title in Bangalore, the 22-year-old is finding his stride once again.

Clay is Nagal’s favourite surface and he would reach the semi-finals in five of seven Challengers since early May. His most recent event was at the ATP 500 stop in Hamburg, where he qualified for a tour-level tournament for the first time. In fact, he had not played a hard-court match since March and admits that the original plan was to skip the US Open and grind on the dirt for the rest of the year.

“It’s just about being happy on court. Whenever you’re happy and looking forward to competing, it helps with everything. It’s events like these that make it all worth it on the Challenger Tour. Every time you beat someone good, you get confidence. And it’s a game where confidence does matter.”

Kevin Anderson has withdrawn from next week’s US Open due to a right knee injury.

The 33-year-old South African, who has been limited to five tournaments this season, was aiming to return to action for the first time since Wimbledon. After also struggling with a right elbow injury earlier in the year, Anderson was bidding to add to his 11-4 record in the coming fortnight in Flushing Meadows.

Anderson reached his first Grand Slam final at this event in 2017 and has compiled a 22-9 record at the hard-court Grand Slam since his main draw debut in 2010. The six-time ATP Tour titlist will be replaced in the draw by lucky loser Paolo Lorenzi of Italy.

Did this guy have too much whiskey?

That’s what I was thinking when I got a call one Thursday evening at around 10 pm last May. I was home in Slovakia, where I was set to play some club matches to practise for some other club matches in Germany. It had been more than four years since I’d retired from pro tennis at 28 due to injury.

“We have a great player for your Monday club match. It’s Bryan,” the head coach of the club told me. I was laughing and I was like, “Which Bryan?”

He didn’t know. I figured the guy was going crazy and I dropped the phone. The next day I asked a manager at the club what the guy was talking about. She thought he was drunk, too.

But the next day I was at the club they said, “Are you ready to hit with Bryan?” I told them I’m always ready for anything, but I was still confused. I played my club match, and then I was shocked. Mike Bryan showed up. The Mike Bryan, the doubles legend. It was really funny. The guy wasn’t drunk after all.

Mike was in town because his girlfriend is Slovakian, so we hit the ball around a bit. I didn’t feel that great. But he was like, ‘You hit well!’ I wasn’t so sure.

He stayed for a week and we hit another two or three times. We even played a doubles match with a couple of other guys. That was like putting a kid in water without knowing how to swim and letting him swim because there were a lot of things going on. Those club matches were the first time I was really playing tennis since I retired.

It took years after I hung up my racquets to be able to do any physical activity without pain. But my body was alright that week. It wasn’t responding like it had been since I retired. I didn’t need to hold my leg down to keep it from throbbing uncontrollably. I was hitting with one of the best players in the world. I didn’t play amazing, but that week was the first time I realised, “Okay, I can still play.”

But if you told me that 15 months later I’d be sitting here as an ATP Masters 1000 champion, I would have told you that you’re crazy. I would never ever bet even a dollar on it. It’s been an incredible journey. But after everything I’ve been through, this is just the beginning.
* * * * *
In 2013, I retired from professional tennis at 28. I’d won 11 doubles titles on the ATP Tour and made 13 more finals. But physically, I couldn’t continue.

I had a nerve issue in my back, and I had loose discs in my spine. My leg would jump after matches. I’d get to the locker room and I simply couldn’t control the nerves in my left leg. If I didn’t physically hold it still with my hands, it would jump sometimes for as long as 15 minutes. To say it was bad is an understatement. I knew my career was over.

But even without playing tennis, the pain wasn’t going away.

I started coaching an Aussie player who was competing at the Futures level and I had to stop after nine or 10 months because the pain was almost the same as when I was playing. I said, “This is useless.”

I think part of it was that I was a bit tired of travelling — the long flights were not good for my body. About a year and a half after I retired, I still didn’t feel right.

So I took a job as head coach of a small club with six outdoor courts and two indoor courts in Piestany, Slovakia. But there was a problem: I couldn’t even hit with the older teenagers. I started working with younger kids, from eight to 14. The pain was getting a bit better, but it still wasn’t great. I had some nice, easy hits with other coaches for only 40 minutes just for the sake of striking the ball, but when I’d get home at night my leg would cramp from my toes through my calves.

Just to try some sort of physical activity, I started playing on a floorball team with other tennis players. The matches were serious, but they were also for fun and for me it was a chance to get sweaty and keep in shape, maybe even so I could have a beer after and it would taste better. After doing that three of four times, I couldn’t do it anymore because it was more painful than enjoyable.

That’s when I decided I couldn’t do anything anymore. It was between two and three years after I retired, and I knew my body still wasn’t holding up. The only thing I was doing was ski touring, which wasn’t strenuous. I’d go with my girlfriend and other friends in the Slovakian mountains for a weekend, moving from one chalet to another.

At that point, I was happy. I wasn’t missing life as a professional tennis player. In November 2017, I became a father, too. I was living a completely different life.

But as the kids I was coaching got older, things began to change. One guy who turned 16 started playing better tennis and he enjoyed baseline games with me. When I’d compete with him, I felt okay. But he was still only 16. For two and a half years, I wasn’t testing my body at all.

In 2017, an amateur I gave lessons to was a very good friend of the president of a German tennis club. They asked me to play club matches there. I figured, “Why not?”, and they were so excited, so we arranged that I would play a few matches. At the same time, the club where I used to play before I retired asked me to play some Slovak club matches for them, which was a week before the German ones started. I thought it was a great opportunity to prepare for the German matches, so I said yes.

Then by coincidence, I got that late night phone call from the guy who I thought drank too much whiskey. I hit with Mike Bryan that week and I had a decision to make. This was just more than a year ago.

I was still waiting for the pain to come back. I knew it would. I had to drive seven hours by car to some German club matches. I would play singles, doubles, sit down in the car without stretching, go back home and I knew that it would definitely get worse the next day. But somehow when I got home I told my girlfriend there wasn’t pain. Weird, right?

After the third or fourth match, it still wasn’t coming. At that point I started thinking about giving pro tennis another shot. I hadn’t had a break from coaching at the academy for three years, so I said I’ll take a month off to go play some tournaments. They were fine with it, telling me I could come back any time. I had no fitness preparation or anything, I just went and played. I threw my body to the water because I knew my body wasn’t ready for it.

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But somehow, it was. I started playing some local Futures and then Challengers and I was doing pretty well. I was surprised with how well my body held up. I had some trouble, but it was different. My muscles were sore and they were not that flexible, but that was it. It wasn’t anything close to what it was before. After a little more than a month, I decided to keep pushing. And by the end of the September, I was inside the Top 200. That was just four months after I started competing again.

It only got better this year, winning six of my first 11 Challenger events. After lifting the trophy in Ostrava, Rome and Lisbon, I felt a bit destroyed. But since then it’s been getting better and better. I’m really staying healthy.

I played with Ivan Dodig for the first time in Antalya and then Wimbledon came. There was a lot of tennis for the doubles guys, playing best of five. After battling through our first match in five sets, we really got in a groove, winning three in a row in straight sets to reach the semi-finals. But still, each of those matches took around two and a half hours. And there was a lot more going on.

Between fitness and practice, the time added up. Thirty minutes of warm-up before the warm-up, then another 30 minutes before the match, and then taking care of my body after the match. Surprisingly, my body held up. I’d made one quarter-final in 23 Grand Slams before I originally retired and somehow, I was into the semi-finals.

That was an incredible feeling, but it also helped me realise that I had a good level. We lost a tough match against two of the best doubles players out there, but it made me hungry. If I could make the semis, what else I could do?

Then in Cincinnati, a dream came true. Before the tournament, I had never made the quarter-finals of an ATP Masters 1000 event in 18 tries. But we beat the top two seeds as well as Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan en route to the trophy. The feeling was amazing. It’s just an unbelievable story, and I’m enjoying it as much as I can.

I decided to go for one more shot in the middle of last year. I was wearing one shirt, starting at Futures events. This is almost unreal.

* * * * *
A lot of people thought it would be impossible to come back to this level after my injuries and being away from competing for so long, but I love doing impossible things.

What’s even crazier is that my game is completely different. I have a different body and a different body weight. I play with different racquets and different string. The only thing that’s the same is my name.

I lost the freedom that players have when you’re 23 and you think you’re the best in the world by far and you play without thinking. Now I’m thinking too much sometimes. But before I was playing too fast and now I see the game much clearer as I play and as I practise. I’m still improving my technique and it’s helping me. I’m hitting much better from the baseline than I was before. I can see and feel the ball much better than before.

But to me, this hasn’t been a comeback. It’s a new career. I’ve built myself up from scratch.

I always dreamt big. I always dreamt about winning Masters 1000s, maybe even a Slam. Fifteen months ago, all of that seemed so incredibly far away. Yet here I am. I’ve learned to never give up on your dreams. I didn’t, and neither should you.

But I’m not overly excited about where I am. I’m really pleased with the way we’ve done the past couple of months. But I have no plans of slowing down. Now I believe I can push harder than ever, and I want to go as far as possible.

– as told to Andrew Eichenholz

In the first round of the US Open, John Millman will have his work cut out for him against three-time champion Rafael Nadal, the second seed. In their only previous meeting, at Wimbledon two years ago, Nadal conceded only six games against the Aussie. But the 30-year-old has defied the odds before.

Millman shocked the world here in New York just last year when he ousted five-time champion Roger Federer 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(7), 7-6(3) to reach the quarter-finals. Federer had missed the last eight in Flushing Meadows just once in his previous 13 appearances. But when the Swiss superstar launched a forehand well long on match point, the Aussie calmly removed his cap and walked to the net to shake hands as the victor.

“I think one of the most important things about your tennis career and what I want to take away from it when I’m finished is a couple of little pictures that you store away in the memory bank,” Millman told ATPTour.com. “I still store away that match point when I won that one and it’s something I’ll hopefully take with me long after tennis.”

Before last year’s tournament, Millman hit with former World No. 1 Andy Murray inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. After the pair tried launching 20 to 30 balls towards the scoreboard, the Aussie didn’t necessarily expect to play on the court again during the fortnight. But after three victories, there he was walking onto a court with the capacity for more than 23,000 fans to sit layered above him, watching him upset a worldwide fan favourite.

“You’re just trying to tell yourself when you’re walking onto that court in that warm-up to try to get the feet going and try to just familiarise yourself with your surroundings as quickly as possible because it’s different,” Millman said. “It’s a massive stadium and it’s one of those places you watched as a kid.”

Then World No. 55, Millman had never previously beaten an opponent inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings (0-10). But Federer did not have it easy in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting three years prior in Brisbane, needing three sets and more than two hours to triumph. So Millman wasn’t totally uncomfortable in the moment.

“I’m lucky probably that I’d faced him before and I faced him in Brisbane where there was a fair bit of pressure on me because you’re playing at home and the last thing you want to do is get whipped in front of your home crowd and home support,” Millman said. “So I felt as if I’d played him under a bit of pressure before and that definitely helped going into that match.”

It’s easy to forget that Federer was in control against the Aussie, making Millman feel like a “deer in headlights” at the beginning of the match. The Swiss, who admittedly struggled with the humidity, led by a set and served for the second set at 5-4 with two set points, but couldn’t convert. Millman bided his time, maintained a steady level, and never dropped his chin, hanging in there until he was able to find an opening and barge through it.

“Against some pretty good players I’d put myself in a position on pretty decent stages,” Millman said. “But the hardest thing is actually running through that finish line… when I finished there was probably a bit of relief and just a little bit of satisfaction and at the same time I acknowledge the fact that I got Roger on not his best day and that was my opportunity and I took it.”

Once Federer’s final forehand flew long, a whirlwind of a journey began for Millman. First, he endeared himself to the fans who stayed up late that evening by telling them he planned to wake up in mere hours for a fantasy football draft with friends.

“Literally the next day was the last time we could do it because Thursday Night Football was right around the corner. My mind was also on the draft, and you need to have those little things in tennis, too. Especially as an Australian, because we have to be away for a long, long time. And you need those little escapes,” Millman said.

The following day, Millman was a man in demand, completing a media tour. A friend had flown in after he defeated Mikhail Kukushkin in the third round, and a couple more booked tickets after he defeated Federer to watch their buddy take on Novak Djokovic. Millman earned a massive triumph, but he wasn’t ready for his dream run to be over.

“Obviously when you’re a kid, you don’t imagine just winning the one-off match,” Millman said. “You imagine winning the whole thing.”

Millman lost in the next round against the eventual champion, Djokovic. But for a player who had never previously made the fourth round of a Grand Slam, it was an unforgettable tournament. It was made even more special because of how much New York has meant to Millman. In 2010, he visited the city for the first time when his parents got him an early birthday present, booking him accommodations in Manhattan after losing at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Tallahassee in 2010.

Millman watched as soon-to-be drafted athletes entered Radio City Music Hall for the NFL Draft, and he also went to see a show. The Aussie loved the city. But little did he know that nearly a decade later he would captivate the city’s attention himself.

“That’s tennis, and that’s what’s beautiful about tennis. You start off regardless of who you play, it’s 0-0. It’s a game for the next two, three, four hours. It’s you versus the other person and anything can happen,” Millman said. “Very rarely do you have those games where everything goes right and you feel amazing. It doesn’t happen, so you’ve got to be there to capitalise when they’re not having one of those special days.”

Millman will try to cause another upset against Nadal.