Australian wildcard John Millman did his part to make up for the disappointment of Nick Kyrgios’ withdrawal by clinching a riveting and hard-fought five set victory over Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler on day one of the Australian Open.
The 33-year-old from Brisbane needed just over four hours to defeat his 26-year-old opponent in front of a vocal Millmanic late afternoon crowd (“Milk him, Johnny, milk him”) in what proved to be an opening day highlight at Melbourne Park.
Millman seemed to have the Swiss’ measure for much of the match, but lost a dramatic tiebreak in the opening set and faltered in the third set breaker, before coming back to dominate the fourth.
A perfectly placed lob followed by a passing winner to get the break and go up 3-1 in the decider was the firecracker the Australian needed to take the match 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3 and advance to the second round.
Earlier, another Brisbane-based wildcard Jason Kubler kept up his recent winning form with a straight sets win over Argentina’s Sebastian Baez – his first singles victory at his home grand slam.
Kubler snatched early breaks in both the first and second sets, capitalising on a string of unforced errors from the 44 ranked Baez at 1-1 in the second, and never faced much pressure on his own serve.
The Argentinian fought his way to a break point at 4-3 in the third but was unable to convert, leaving Kubler – bolstered by a young and noisy John Cain Arena audience – to seize the momentum and break the following game to notch up a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
John Millman prevailed in five enthralling sets.Credit:Getty Images
Kubler, 29, said there were “definitely some nerves” in the third set as he tried to advance to the second round of the Australian Open for the first time.
“You want to have a great result and feel like you belong on these big courts,” he said. “I was able to put it together and win those important points. Luckily, I was able to serve quite well.”
The boisterous afternoon crowd burst into regular chants of “Aussie Aussie Aussie”, and also shouted “Kuuub” – which sounded similar to Nick Kyrgios’ fans controversial chants of “siuuuu” at last year’s tournament.
Plagued by injuries in years past, Kubler has been trouble-free for 18 months and posted a career-best singles result at Wimbledon last year, reaching the fourth round. He also performed well at the United Cup and Adelaide International in the lead-up to the Australian Open, rising to 84th in the rankings.
Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt had predicted good things for the late bloomer following his pre-tournament success.
Jason Kubler fires up the crowd.Credit:Getty Images
“He plays well on all surfaces as well but for a while there he probably didn’t believe that he belonged on the big stage or in the bigger tournaments,” Hewitt had told AAP. “I just think he’s going to grow just from being around Alex [de Minaur] as well and playing big matches and how to deal with his emotions.”
It was “super special” to finally succeed at his home slam, Kubler said after Monday’s win. He will face US Open semi finalist and No.18 seed from Russia Karen Khachanov in round two.
Out on Court 8, a raucous home crowd threw all they had behind the Herculean effort of yet another local wildcard, Rinky Hijikata.
The 21-year-old world No.169 simply refused to give in, charging back from two sets down to defeat German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Hijikata’s main draw debut was one to savour, the young gun falling to the ground and letting out a scream of jubilation after match point.
‘Rip snorter’ Tsitsipas doubles down on local lingo
Australia lost its own best player then found a willing adoptee.
Into the void of local star Nick Kyrgios – who withdrew before so much as striking a ball – stepped Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. The world No.4 and wannabe Aussie was all full of love for the local crowd, doubling down on the lingo.
Actually, Tsitsipas didn’t so much stride in as swagger in dead-set taking the piss.
As a Greek in Melbourne he’s considered half a local anyway, enjoying strong crowd support, but Tsitsipas showed he has a lot of love for the locals too, going full Steve Irwin with his Aussie slang.
“Crikey, that was a rip snorter mate,” he laughed on court after his 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchman Quentin Halys.
When it was mentioned he had been pushed in the third set to a tie-breaker after two easy first sets he saw another little opening: “I was flat out like a lizard drinking.” “I am full into it (slang), I am committing,” he said.
“I love coming back here, seeing all my cousins (the Australian-Greeks in the crowd). It feels like home. They (the cousins) are everywhere!”
OK, look, it might not be the sort of slang used much outside of tourism ads, Barry McKenzie movies and old Steve Irwin shows, but we’ll forgive him that – he was having fun and making the night fun.
The fact of Kyrgios going out and Tsitsipas being the one to step forward on the day to embrace the local connection had a further symmetry to it, in that the pair have a fractious relationship.
Fractious might not be the term. In the slang, you’d call it crappy.
The pair had a spiteful clash at Wimbledon when Tsitsipas slapped a ball into the crowd and Kyrgios called for the action from the chair umpire and the tournament supervisor.
Annoyed at Kyrgios, Tsitsipas then rifled three shots at the Australian’s body, drew two code violations and was penalised a point.
Later Tsitsipas – after losing – said Kyrgios was a bully and had a “very evil side to him”.
So you wouldn’t say they are close. But there is a bit of theatre, emotion and drama about both players on court. They are both very watchable, but one of them is not here now so Tsitsipas can embrace a bit of local adoration.
Tsitsipas said later that Melbourne was where he felt more local than anywhere he played around the world.
“When I step out on the court I get to see all the Greek flags … it’s the closest thing I get to have something at home. It’s very helpful,” he said.
What a dag.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, Swiss champion Stan Warinka was dumped out in the first round, losing in five sets to Slovakia’s Alex Molcan 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
Italian 21-year-old Jannik Sinner dispatched Britain’s Kyle Edmund in straight sets, while American Frances Tiafoe needed four sets and nearly three-and-a-half hours to overcome Germany’s Daniel Altmaier.
Tiafoe surprised onlookers in a brightly coloured, psychedelic pattern outfit with matching singlet and shorts, designed by Nike. Victoria Azarenka was dressed similarly for her first round victory over Sofia Kenin on Margaret Court Arena.
Canada’s Denis Shapovalov defeated Serbian Dusan Lajovic in four sets, while Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry dropped the first set but came back to win in four against Frenchman Gregoire Barrere.
Meanwhile, defending champion Rafael Nadal saw off Britain’s Jack Draper in four sets on centre court.
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