Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are one round away from a potential U.S. Open quarterfinal contest. They first have to get past unseeded surprises John Millman and Joao Sousa, respectively, on Monday.
John Millman vs. (2) Roger Federer
Millman is through to the fourth round of major for the first time in his career and his reward is what should be an incredible experience but also a brutally tough matchup on Monday at the U.S. Open. He will be going up against Federer for the second time in his career, with the Swiss having won their only previous encounter 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 three years ago on the hard courts of Brisbane. More than three full seasons later, Federer is still flying high at 37 years old. The Swiss already owns one Grand Slam title in 2018 (Australian Open) and his bid for another in New York is underway with straight-set wins over Yoshihito Nishioka, Benoit Paire, and Nick Kyrgios.
Although Millman is in the midst of his best year on tour, his run to the second week could not have been forecasted. The 55th-ranked Australian’s post-Wimbledon swing had included a pair of second-round exits on clay and immediate losses in both Cincinnati and Winston-Salem. Suddenly, though, Millman finds himself playing on Labor Day following defeats of Jenson Brooksby, Fabio Fognini, and Mikhail Kukushkin. The underdog will enjoy himself in this one, but he does not have anything close to the firepower necessary to trouble Federer in the five-time U.S. Open champion’s current form.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 8-10 games
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(6) Novak Djokovic vs. Joao Sousa
Djokovic and Sousa will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers on Monday. All four of their previous meetings have gone Djokovic’s way and it has been complete domination on every occasion, to the extent that he has taken all 11 of their sets without anything being more competitive than 6-4. They faced each other in the U.S. Open third round in 2013, when the Serb cruised 6-0, 6-2, 6-2.
Turning things around drastically from comeback pains earlier in 2018, Djokovic established himself as the odds-on favorite in Flushing Meadows by winning Wimbledon for the fourth time and capturing a first-ever title at the Cincinnati Masters. The world No. 6 has maintained his high standard with first-week victories over Marton Fucsovics, Tennys Sandgren, and Richard Gasquet. Like Millman, Sousa is also competing in round four of major for the first time in his career. The 68th-ranked Portuguese accomplished the feat by ousting Marcel Granollers, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Lucas Pouille. Sousa is coming off two tough matches while Djokovic raised his level considerably against Gasquet on Saturday night, so everything points to another lopsided affair in this head-to-head matchup.
Pick: Djokovic in 3 losing 8-10 games
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36% first serves in the first two sets. What….
Where’s samprasgoat tonight? Does anybody know?
Speaking of grassgoat, Federer is playing like Sampras did when Federer beat him at Wimbledon.
The underdog gets no love when it’s Federer he’s playing against.
(or anyone vs Fed for that matter.)
Roger needs his initials back.
That’s the problem.
I think I saw someone slip Roger’s old smaller racquet into his bag before the match.
Fed is so unbelievably tight, he’s actually sweating hawks!! I can’t, man. I just can’t……
Sorry for you tonight Benny. It must be hard to watch.
Is Kevin in the stadium tonight?
Thanks hawks. Yeah it hasn’t been easy. I just can’t believe he lost that 40-15 lead with two set points up 5-4 in the second. It’s been a ridiculously unexpected turnaround. And my god did he tighten up often in that breaker. Also, that forehand at 7-7 by Millman was sick.
Hawks-
I can’t even tell you how grateful I am to not be there right haha… I am, however, in Brooklyn at my friends apartment watching it on tv. It really does hurt to watch. I’ve don’t know if I ever seen him this tense and lost. Could this finally be the end of Fed as we know him?
I DO, however, have tickets for Wednesday night session, and I was so excited to be able to say I witnessed a Big 4 match. It’s looking pretty doubtful for that right now. Even if Fed did manage to pull this out, I’m not sure if it would be an interesting match vs. Nole…
I am pumped, though, to see all 4 singles QF matches tomorrow. I’ll be thinking of the Rafa peeps. 🙂
Have a great time in NY Kevin and enjoy the Open.
However, I know what it’s like when your favourite is struggling playing no where near his potential.
Very strange match indeed.
I heard 10 people cheering when Millman hit that insane winner. About half that number when the poor guy won the second set.
The only place less quiet is here at the grandstand.
Patrick McEnroe will not be happy.
Novak Djokovic is laughing for 14 minutes.
Millman should have gone with the body shot Lendl is thinking.
Seriously the kind of hate that I see for some posters , some for Fed and some for Nadal makes me pity on people who deal with these guys day to day.
Its amazing to see the kind of joy some get when the biggest rival of their favorite players is losing . Just goes to show they have no life.
Fedexal, you’re clearly trying to start something as nobody seems to be showing great joy regarding this match.
If Fed wins tonight (pretty big “if” at the moment), then I would think he plays pretty loosely with a bit of house money the next match because a win here would be an absolute escape. He can raise his level next round, I’m certain of it. Obviously I don’t know if he will. Nor do I know if he gets out of this one.
Damn! I sold of my tickets today thinking it will be a damp squib of a match. I could have been the 11th guy cheering Millman on
I think one of them is feds dad. He usially cheers for good shots regardless of the player. Tennis needs more fans like that.
Fed just sliced a ball about two miles per hour on his own side. Then sails a slice long. Cmon Fed consolidate the break. You got this man!!
I don’t think any Rafa fan wants fed to lose this match…surely not me..I want the fed djokovic spicy tasty qf. Go fed.
If Rafans want Millman to win, that’s perfectly fine. Millman is hard not to root for anyways. He is a really likable guy. Seems to me fedexal is just reaching for some beef with hawks though 😄
I’m not biting Benny G.
I don’t like to see fed go down like this.
At least we know he doesn’t turn into a pumpkin if he’s still on court after midnight.
Uhh….I’m not pulling for Millman to win Benny!…I want Fed to win so i could enjoy Fedole once more…But..yeah…circumstances sure look bad for Fed atm tho…
Sorry Benny!
I’m becoming spooked by some of these misses by Roger. I mean they are just unsettlingly bad. I don’t usually criticize Fed’s play this heavily, but I can barely watch right now. What the actual crap are some of these drop shots and volley misses?? He is lucky to win if he gets this one. Needs Millman to tighten up a bit.
I think he will the closer he gets. Plus the crowd and he’s not used to the big stage.
Look at the cheers on the DF!
That’s what I dislike. Not Federer.
Fed lost a TB? What a rarity!
Saw the second set and a bit of the third before going out, Fed was quite bad in his own service game, was able to escape some but Millman soon could break him to win the second set.
Fed playing like this, even if he finally wins this match, will suffer a beat down at the hands of Djoko!
Sorry to all Fedfans that i respect very much!…It was not meant to be for Fed & u guys this time…Be strong okay?
Oh dear, just saw the live score, so Fed is out of this USO! No more Fed vs Djoko QF for us!
I think Fed will be third in the race to London after this; Djoko leapfrog him with a QF at USO.