Big Upsets of '18, No. 2: Federer falls to Millman in NYC

Enjoy a look back at the biggest upsets of the season, starting at No. 10 and counting all the way down to the top stunner of the year.

Since the start of the 2017 season, Roger Federer had proven to the world that he was far from done, with three Grand Slam titles and a return to the No. 1 ranking.

Adding a sixth US Open title to his Grand Slam haul was a priority entering the 2018 tournament as it had been a decade since he last won there. After breezing through the first three rounds, Federer only had one more obstacle to face before a marquee matchup against Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

That obstacle, John Millman, had other plans for the Swiss legend.

Playing in his first fourth round at a major, Millman dropped the opening set against Federer, which wasn’t much of a surprise given the differences in experience and accomplishments. Instead of rolling over, the 29-year-old held steady and took the second set in a tiebreak, then repeated the feat in the third to go up two sets to one.

On a muggy night in New York, it was Federer that was the less fresh of the two. With groundstrokes flying off his racquet and his serve going awry, he was unable to make any headway on Millman. Eventually, the fourth set—and the match—went to the Australian as he recorded the biggest, and most unlikely, win of his career.

Though he would fall to Djokovic in the quarterfinals on another hot evening in New York, Millman made his mark on the tournament, leaving an impression on the sport’s observers—and his fourth-round opponent, too.

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