Who cares if Roger Federer is 38 years old when he keeps finding new ways to redefine is greatness? And he did it again at the Australian Open in a thrilling match that began Friday night in Melbourne and ended after midnight Saturday.
Federer topped Australia’s John Millman by winning a wild fifth-set tiebreaker. Unlike other tournaments — such as Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, which play first-to-seven in a tiebreaker — the Australian Open has a first-to-10 format, and Federer fell behind 8-4 early on.
But he rallied with six straight points to win the tiebreaker and the third-round match, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), marking his 100th Aussie Open match win.
Not only that, but he is also the first singles player win 100 matches in two different Grand Slams, which is absolutely ridiculous. He won his 100th Wimbledon match in 2019.
In his post-match interview, Federer joked that when Millman had that huge lead in the tiebreaker and was two points away from taking the match, he was already preparing himself to offer excuses during his press conference for why he lost.
But fortunately for him, he didn’t have to.
When @johnhmillman leaves you speechless 😶@rogerfederer | #AusOpen | #AO2020 pic.twitter.com/7WznZKdyvU
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 24, 2020
On the court, Federer said:
“Oh god, it was tough. Thank god it’s a super tiebreaker — otherwise I would have lost this one. Where to start? John played a great match. He might as well have been out here as well making the match — doing the interview. Can’t even speak anymore. He’s a great fighter, a good guy. Like you said, it came down to the wire at the end. A bit of luck, maybe, you know, go one way. I had to stay so focused, take the right decision, and he was doing all that stuff in the beginning of the breaker.
“He kept on coming up with the goods, and I thought ‘OK, I guess I tried. I didn’t play too bad after all.’ And I was getting ready to explain myself in the press conference. The demons are always there; they’re lurking. Anyway, what a match, and John deserves over half of this one.”
Here’s a look at the highlights from Federer and Millman’s third-round match. (The intense tiebreaker clips begin just after the four-minute mark.)
No. 3 seed Federer is now set to play Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics on Sunday morning in Melbourne, but it will be Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
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