Millman reaches Winston-Salem quarters
John Millman is rounding into form at the perfect time ahead of the US Open, reaching his second career ATP quarterfinal in Winston-Salem.
Winston-Salem, NC, USA, 25 August 2016 | AAP
John Millman has reached the second ATP quarterfinal of his career, beating Bjorn Fratangelo in the third round of the Winston-Salem Open.
Millman was forced to fight back from a set down to reach the final eight of the ATP 250 event in North Carolina, eventually defeating the American 5-7 6-0 6-3 on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
It is the third match in a row at the tournament that the Queenslander has lost the first set before coming back to win in three.
It means he will now face world No.15 Richard Gasquet in his second career quarterfinal, after reaching the same stage at the Open Sud de France in February.
Millman also made the quarters and semis of two tournaments in South Korea in May, but these were at second-tier ATP Challenger events.
The Australian’s serve was his best asset on Wednesday.
He sent down nine aces, won 81 per cent of points on first serve and was broken just once.
By comparison, he was able to claim 53 points on his opponent’s serve, breaking him five times.
No.1 seed Gasquet will be a tough opponent after beating Frenchman Stephane Robert 6-1 6-3 earlier on Wednesday.
In the day’s other matches, Czech player Jiri Vesely was forced to retire in the first set against Andrey Kuznetsov, while Chinese Taipei veteran Yen-Hsun Lu beat Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 6-4 6-0.