Five fast facts about US Open dark horse Millman

NEW YORK—No one saw this upset coming, except maybe John Millman. The 29-year-old Aussie stunned Roger Federer on Monday night inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3).

"It's probably a bit of a shock to a lot of people," Millman said. "But, you know, that's a great thing about tennis, that's the great thing about sport: There's always upsets that can happen."

The loss marked Federer's earliest at the US Open since 2013, and ruined any hope of him taking on Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster quarterfinal and maybe finally facing rival Rafael Nadal in New York. For Millman though, he's living a dream and will get to play his first career Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Here are five things to know about world No. 55.

1

Going into the US Open his 2018 record was 14-15, but he showed signs of promise by reaching his first ATP final in Budapest and he also won three ATP Challengers in the past year.

"[Budapest] probably gave me a lot of confidence this year," Millman said. "Making my first tour final, playing some good tennis along the way definitely kind of spurred me on in the right direction, definitely."

His best win this year before Federer was over Top 20-ranked Frenchman Lucas Pouille.

2

Millman has a secret party trick up his sleeve: tying a knot in his mouth.

That week in Queen's Club, Millman lost to Djokovic 6-2, 6-1. He'll try to do better against the Serbian in the quarterfinals of the US Open.

3

He's been on tour paying his dues since 2006. The road hasn't been smooth with injuries including shoulder reconstruction surgery in 2013 and a groin surgery in 2017.

"With that you have to start all over again. That's challenging. It's challenging financially. It's challenging physically. It's challenging mentally," Millman said. "But, you know, you do it. And you do all those moments in rehab, you do all that for something like this. It all becomes a little bit more rewarding."

4

Millman cracked the Top 50 for the first time in his career in July. Thanks to his US Open run, which includes wins over Fabio Fognini and Mikhail Kukushkin, he'll crack the Top 40.

"I'll obviously remember this for a long, long time. It's extremely special," he said after the Federer win. "But, yeah, hopefully I haven't got a bullet in me yet, I can create a few more moments in my career."

Playing for his country in the Olympic games was such a big dream come true for him that he got the Olympic rings tattooed on his right bicep. In Rio, he won his opener 6-0, 6-0 over Ricardas Berankis before losing to Kei Nishikori.

5

The Brisbane native was invited to practice with Federer earlier this summer.

"We were looking for somebody who was a great guy, who could train hard, maybe was looking also for a place to come to and practice on the grass or hard courts with me before Stuttgart. I didn't know he had a girlfriend in Stuttgart," Federer said. "He was like, yeah, absolutely, I'm ready to come. We had a great few days, a good time together."

Millman was also actually up a set and a break again Federer the first time they played back in 2015. It was in front of his home crowd at the Brisbane International and he ended up losing 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

"Roger's a hero of mine. I look up to him," Millman said. He's always been, you know, one of the guys in the locker rooms, we'll always chat, very approachable.

"I felt a little bit guilty because he didn't have his best day, and that's for sure. I know that."

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