John Millman

John Millman

Country (sports)	Australia
Residence	Brisbane, Australia
Born	(1989-06-14) 14 June 1989 Brisbane, Australia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro	2006
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$633,455
Singles
Career record	10–19 (Grand Slam, ATP Tour level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 63 (15 February 2016)
Current ranking	No. 63 (15 February 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2016)
French Open	Q2 (2010)
Wimbledon	2R (2015)
US Open	1R (2015)
Doubles
Career record	2–7 (Grand Slam, ATP Tour level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 281 (15 April 2013)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2013)
Last updated on: 1 February 2016.

John Millman (born 14 June 1989) is an Australian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 71 in August 2015. He is coached by Australian Gary Stickler.

Personal life

Millman was born in Brisbane, Australia, into a family of five children (four girls) and is the second youngest. During his schooling years he attended Brisbane Grammar School then the Anglican Church Grammar School.^[1] Outside of tennis he enjoys soccer and supports Liverpool Football Club who compete in the English Premier League.^[2]

Junior career

Millman made his ITF junior tournament debut in Darwin as a 15-year-old in 2004 and reached the quarterfinals. He made his junior Grand Slam debut at the 2006 Australian Open. He would win his first junior tournament in June 2006 at a tournament held in New Caledonia. He would then win his next two tournaments in a row held in Fiji and New Zealand respectively. He competed in his last junior tournament at the 2007 Australian Open.

Junior singles finals (3)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	18 June 2006	Nouméa, New Caledonia	Hard	Matheson Klein	6–2 7–5
Winner	2.	26 June 2006	Lautoka, Fiji	Hard	Brendan McKenzie	6–3, 6–2
Winner	3.	4 July 2006	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Mark Verryth	4–6 6–4 6–2

Professional career

2008–2010

In 2008, Millman won the F8 Futures in Australia, was runner-up at an F1 in Romania losing to Răzvan Sabău and made the semis of a Morocco F5 tournament. In 2009, Millman's success on the junior circuit continued, making the final of an F2 in Bulgaria and claiming semi-final appearances in two Italian tournaments and another Bulgarian one. In the same year, Millman injured his back while training with the Australian junior Davis Cup team.^[3] Millman improved his career ranking from close to 1,000 to the 300s in 2009. He achieved this by a semi-final performance in a Challenger tournament in Burnie. He won his second Futures event in Kalgoorlie defeating Matthew Ebden and Millman also made the second round of qualifying for the Australian Open.

Millman started 2010 by winning a wilcard entry into his hometown tournament, the Brisbane International. Unfortunately, he was drawn to play defending champion Radek Štěpánek in the first round and lost in straight sets. Millman reached the final round of qualifying at the Australian Open qualifying losing to Ukrainian Illya Marchenko. He won his third Futures title in Berri on grass defeating Greg Jones in the final in February. In September Millman returned to Australia to claim his fourth futures title of his career in Darwin with a 6–0 6–1 victory in the final. In October Millman won his first Challenger title in Sacramento over Robert Kendrick 6–3 6–2.

2011–2012

Millman was again awarded a wildcard into the 2011 Brisbane International main draw where he drew fellow Australian Matt Ebden but fell 6-4, 2-6, 4-6. He then competed in Sydney and Australian Open qualifying but fell in the second round in both tournaments. He would then compete in Challengers spread across Asia, Australia and Europe before injuring his shoulder during an Italian futures tournament in April. He continued playing injured until Wimbledon qualifying where he lost in the first round 6-2, 3-6, 5-7 to Fritz Wolmarans. Following the loss at Wimbedlon he returned to Australia and didn't compete in a tennis tournament again until 2012.

At the beginning of 2012 Millman used his protected ranking to enter the 2012 Brisbane International qualifying tournament and managed to win three matches to qualify into the main draw. In the first round of the Brisbane International he faced Santiago Giraldo but lost 3-6 3-6. He would then travel to Melbourne to compete in Australian Open qualifying but was ousted in the first round by Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-7(5), 2-6. After a year with mixed results on the future and challenger circuits Millman won his first title in over two years in Bendigo where he defeated Ben Mitchell in the final 6-3 6-3. He finished 2012 with a ranking of 199.

2013: Top 200 and injury

Millman began 2013 at the Brisbane International where he entered qualifying and recorded straight set wins over Luke Saville, Alex Bogomolov and Donald Young to make it into the main draw. He then recorded his first ever ATP win against Tatsuma Ito 6–4, 6–1 in the first round. Following his victory over Ito he was awarded a main draw wildcard into the 2013 Australian Open. In the second round of Brisbane he faced World No. 3 Andy Murray and lost in three sets 6–1 5–7 6–3.

Following an impressive performance at the Brisbane International, an Australian Writer/Sports Physiologist coined the term 'Millminions' to describe Millman's extensive and loyal fans base. This has since been adopted by the Australian tennis community.

Millman received a wildcard entry into the 2013 Apia International Sydney in the lead up to the Australian Open and drew Tommy Robredo in the first round, winning 6–3 6–4.^[4] He next took on the third seed, Andreas Seppi for a place in the quarterfinals. Millman impressed taking a set off the world No. 23, but eventually lost in three sets 2–6 6–3 3–6.

Millman then competed at the 2013 Australian Open, which was the debut in the main draw at his home slam.^[5] He played World No. 84 Tatsuma Ito in the first round. Millman had recently defeated Ito at the Brisbane International, but Ito got the better of Millman in an epic 5 set match 4–6 4–6 6–3 6–0 5–7. After the loss, Millman mentioned ambitions to make the top 100 by the end of the year.^[6]

Millman then played a $50,000 Challenger event at the 2013 McDonald's Burnie International. He defeated compatriot Benjamin Mitchell in the first round despite losing the first set. Although having a first round scare, he cruised through to the final where he faced Stéphane Robert. Millman won the match 6–2 4–6 6–0. This became his second Challenger title.^[7] Millman then headed to Adelaide to compete at the 2013 Charles Sturt Adelaide International where he again had to face Robert. This time though, it was in the first round and Robert won the tough match 6–3 3–6 6–7(3).

Attempting to build on his early success in Challenger events in 2013, Millman took part in the $35,000 Shimadzu All Japan Indoor Tennis Championships in Kyoto, Japan. Seeded 4th Millman dispatched two local qualifiers Toshihide Matsui and Hiroki Kondo although he required a third set tiebreaker against Hiroki Kondo. In the quarter-finals, Millman faced 7th seeded German Peter Gojowczyk and again needed a third set - defeating him 6–3, 3–6, 6–3. In the semi-finals, Millman again was pitted against Japanese local hope and 5th seeded Hiroki Moriya who defeated the top seed Yuichi Sugita. The first set was tight with Millman and Moriya trading breaks. Eventually, Millman prevailed in straight sets by the scoreline of 7–6(4), 6–1. In the finals, Millman faced Swiss 2nd seeded Marco Chiudinelli who defeated Millman's doubles partner Matthew Barton in the other semi-final. Millman ousted Chiudinelli in 2 hours and 26 minutes 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(2) to claim his second Challenger title in 2013 and third overall to cap a terrific start to the year.

Millman was awarded a wild card into the 2013 French Open but on 20 May 2013, Millman announced his withdrawal due to a shoulder injury. Millman will be replaced by fellow countryman and rising star Nick Kyrgios who previously had a wildcard for qualification rounds.^[8][9]

2014

Millman hadn't played a match since May 2013, but he announced via Twitter on the 19th of February 2014, that he 'hopefully' be back playing by the end of March.^[10] It was later announced that his first competition in eleven months would be the Chengdu China F4, commencing on April 7, where he made the quarter final. His ranking as of June 2014 had fallen to #1193. In August 2014, Millman won the Korea F10 and F11. These were his first titles in 17 months. In September, Millman made the semi final of the Sacramento Challenger, losing in three sets to world number 54 Sam Querrey. The following week, Millman made the final of the Tiburon Challenger, but again lost to Sam Querrey in two sets. He rose 241 ranking positions in these two weeks; up to 285. In November, Millman won his fourth career challenger title at the Traralgon 2 against James Ward.^[11]

2015: Top 100

Millman in 2015

Millman commenced the 2015 season at the 2015 Brisbane International with a wild card into the main draw. He defeated Rhyne Williams in round one and almost caused an upset, leading world No.2 Roger Federer in round two 6-4, 3-1 before losing 6-4, 4-6, 3-6.^[12] At the 2015 Australian Open, Millman lost in round 1 to Leonardo Mayer in straight sets.

In February, Millman was forced to retired in round 1 of the Burnie Challenger with a lower back concern.^[13] He returned to complete in the Kyoto Challenger where he reached the final but lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 against Michał Przysiężny. Millman lost in round of qualifying at the French Open, then played Vicenza Challenger where he was seeded 6 and lost in the final to Íñigo Cervantes. In June, Millman secured his first Grand Slam main draw entry via qualifying for the first time in his career at Wimbledon. ^[14] Millman defeated 19th seed Tommy Robredo in round 1,^[15] before losing to Marcos Baghdatis in round two, despite having a 2 sets to 0 lead.^[16] This result increased Millman's ranking and he reached the top 100 for the first time in July 2015. In August, Millman won his 6th and 7th challenger titles in Kentucky and Aptos. Millman ended 2015 with a ranking of 92.

2016

Millman commenced 2016 making the second round of Chennai, before playing in Sydney after being awarded a wildcard. He lost in round one to Tommy Robredo.

He advanced past the first round of the Australian Open for the first time in his career with a victory over Argentinian Diego Schwartzman. In the second round Millman defeated Luxembourg world number 38 Gilles Müller in five sets to advance to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. In the third round Millman fell to fellow Australian Bernard Tomic 6-4, 7-6, 6-2.

Fan Popularity

Millman applauding his fans after a match at the 2013 Brisbane International.

Millman revealed in early 2012 that support he received while injured and contemplating retirement in 2011 gave him the drive to continue pursuing tennis as a career.^[17] While competing at the his hometown tournament, the 2013 Brisbane International, Millman received an immense amount of support at every match he competed in. It was later revealed his supporters had developed a reputation in the locker room. Millman is well known for thanking his supporters following each match and often hands out drinks from the fridge to his fans at the conclusion of his matches. Following his match against Andy Murray, the hashtag term '#Millman' began trending worldwide on Twitter for several hours.

Millmania

Following Millman's first round victory at the 2013 Brisbane International, Brisbane Times journalist Phil Lutton coined the term 'Millmania' to describe the sudden and large hysteria surrounding his abrupt success.^[18] The Sydney Morning Herald has since begun using the term with Millman's continued success in the Apia International.

Challenger and Futures finals

Singles: 26 (15 Titles, 11 Runner-Ups)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	18 April 2008	Bucharest	Clay	Răzvan Sabău	5–7, 3–6
Winner	2.	6 October 2008	Traralgon	Hard	Andrew Coelho	6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	3.	11 June 2009	Stara Zagora	Clay	Predrag Rusevski	2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	4.	21 September 2009	Darwin	Hard	Jamie Baker	4–6, 6–2, 3–6
Runner-up	5.	16 November 2009	Esperance	Hard	Matthew Ebden	3–6, 4–6
Winner	6.	23 November 2009	Kalgoorlie	Hard	Matthew Ebden	6–2, 7–6(7–1)
Winner	7.	22 February 2010	Berri	Grass	Greg Jones	1–6, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	8.	6 April 2010	Little Rock	Hard	Brydan Klein	3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Winner	9.	13 September 2010	Darwin	Hard	Hiroki Moriya	6–0, 6–1
Runner-up	10.	20 September 2010	Alice Springs	Hard	Colin Ebelthite	5–7, 6–7(2–7)
Winner	11.	10 October 2010	Sacramento	Hard	Robert Kendrick	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	12.	26 March 2012	Bundaberg	Clay	Jason Kubler	4–6, 6–1, 1–6
Runner-up	13.	7 May 2012	Busan	Hard	Tatsuma Ito	4–6, 3–6
Winner	14.	4 November 2012	Bendigo	Hard	Benjamin Mitchell	6–3, 6–3
Winner	15.	28 January 2013	Burnie	Hard	Stéphane Robert	6–2, 4–6, 6–0
Winner	16.	10 March 2013	Kyoto	Carpet	Marco Chiudinelli	4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–2)
Winner	17.	11 August 2014	Chuncheon	Hard	Jose Rubin Statham	6–3, 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–5)
Winner	18.	18 August 2014	Anseong	Clay (i)	Jose Rubin Statham	6–1, 7–5
Runner-up	19.	12 October 2014	Tiburon	Hard	Sam Querrey	4–6, 2–6
Winner	20.	3 November 2014	Traralgon 2	Hard	James Ward	6–4, 6–1
Winner	21.	16 November 2014	Yokohama	Hard	Kyle Edmund	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	22.	1 March 2015	Kyoto	Hard	Michał Przysiężny	3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up	23.	31 May 2015	Vicenza	Clay	Íñigo Cervantes	4–6, 2–6
Winner	24.	2 August 2015	Lexington	Hard	Yasutaka Uchiyama	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Winner	25.	16 August 2015	Aptos Challenger	Hard	Austin Krajicek	7-5, 2-6, 6-3
Winner	26.	15 November 2015	Kobe Challenger	Hard / Indoor	Taro Daniel	6-1, 6-3

Singles performance timeline

References

External links

• John Millman at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• John Millman at the International Tennis Federation
• John Millman profile on Tennis Australia

Association of Tennis Professionals: Top ten Australian male singles tennis players, as of 15 February 2016 1. Bernard Tomic (20 ) 2. Nick Kyrgios (41 1) 3. John Millman (63 3) 4. Sam Groth (76 1) 5. Thanasi Kokkinakis (100 4) 6. Matthew Ebden (105 ) 7. John-Patrick Smith (135 1) 8. James Duckworth (139 ) 9. Jordan Thompson (149 3) 10. Luke Saville (184 6)