John Millman’s career ended for just a handful of people after the Aussie star, known for his tenacity and love of playing for his country, was denied a final chance at the Australian Open.
Australian tennis fans are furious after the fighter, who has never shied away from competing in the Davis Cup or other Australian representative tournaments, was cruelly denied a wildcard for the Australian Open by Tennis Australia.
Instead, he had to battle his way through qualifying, where he failed to secure a place in the main draw at Melbourne Park.
Millman choked back tears as he thanked his loyal fans after the self-proclaimed tennis ‘battler’ played the final match of his legendary 18-year professional career.
The former US Open quarter-finalist and fan favorite lost 6-4 6-3 to Slovak Alex Molcan in the second round of Australian Open qualifying on Thursday.
The defeat denied the 34-year-old the chance to express himself on one of Melbourne Park’s big stages at the Open itself, but Millman was normally fine with finishing on the modest No. 3 court.
‘I won my first best-of-five match on this field against Gilles Muller. That one will always stick with me,” he said when asked about his favorite Open memory after his debut in 2009.
“Every time the crowd lifted me up, which happened a lot, I needed that help.
“I’ve never been the biggest man or the biggest hitter. I needed every bit of energy and they always came in big numbers, even in qualifying.
“It may not seem like much to concede during qualifying, but it means a lot.”
A clearly emotional Millman is interviewed after his career ended in Australian Open qualifying after he was denied a direct entry wildcard by Tennis Australia
It was a cruel way to end Millman’s career and tennis fans have lashed Tennis Australia for not giving him a swan song at the Australian Open.
Australian tennis star Daria Saville – who did receive a wildcard for the Australian Open – paid tribute to Millman on social media.
‘Very emotional watching the interview with @johnhmillman. We will miss you on the tour. You should be so proud of yourself!’ she posted.
But fans were left furious that Millman had not been given an Aussie Open swan song after years of loyal service to Tennis Australia.
‘I cannot express how disappointing it is that John Millman did not get a wildcard for his very last tournament in his home country, just as Andreas Seppi did not get one in Italy. Was always a great guy who worked so hard and put on huge games over the years. He will be missed,” one fan wrote.
“I just watched this match… so sad because he fought hard and played some incredible shots in several 20+ shot rallies. Can’t believe @AustralianOpen didn’t give him a wildcard,” another added.
‘Sad to see John Millman retire, especially in a qualifying round. It just doesn’t suit one of the nicest men in tennis. Too bad,” another fan complained.
“Shocking he didn’t get a wildcard into the main draw,” another angry fan posted.
He may never have been a heavyweight, but Millman still overcame a host of injuries to carve out a special place in the Australian tennis history books with a career-defining fourth-round victory over Roger Federer at the 2018 US Open in New York.
Millman proved to be a massive killer at the 2018 US Open, taking Roger Federer’s prized scalp in a career-best performance
Millman almost beat Federer for the second time at the 2020 Australian Open thanks to his never-say-die attitude on court
He was the first Australian to topple the Swiss Greatest at a grand slam since Pat Rafter at Roland Garros in 1999, when Federer was still a teenager.
Millman came tantalizingly close to repeating the feat at the 2020 Australian Open, losing in five sets after leading Federer 8-4 in the decisive super tiebreak.
“I would have loved to have turned it around and beaten him here at the Australian Open when I lost in five minutes,” he said.
‘But there have been plenty of highlights. That’s probably not the highlight of my career.
“Every time I was able to dress in green and gold, especially during the Davis Cup and the Olympics, those are the moments that I really enjoyed and will probably stay with me.”
In his first of two Olympic appearances, in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Millman became the first player in the history of the Games to win a singles match 6-0 6-0 against Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis.
Wearing the green and gold of Australia at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was one of Millman’s career highlights
He reached career high No. 33 in October 2018, won his only ATP singles title in Kazakhstan in 2020 and played five Davis Cup matches for Australia.
In addition to his thrilling run at Flushing Meadows five years ago, where Novak Djokovic stopped him, Millman twice reached the third round at Melbourne Park and Wimbledon.
But he loves being known as a people’s champion.
“I wasn’t good enough to win easily,” Millman said.
“I always had to leave it out there and hopefully I represented that every time I came on the court.
“The Aussies got behind me because I was a bit of a fighter.”