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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY SUNCORPJanuary 6, 2015John MillmanBRISBANE, QUEENSLAND J. MILLMAN/R. Williams THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Great win. Must be really excited about the next round and the next matchup? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, it's always an added incentive to play someone like Roger Federer. Brisbane seems to do that to me. Obviously had Murray a couple years ago. Federer, you know, it might even be the next step up in terms of just what he's done for the sport. So, yeah, it's been be really exciting and I'm really look forward to it. Q. Out on the practice courts early this morning Roger had a full gallery watching him practice. You're the local guy. You still have a bit of support out there? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah. I had four people watch me this morning. (Laughter.) No, yeah, I mean, Federer is going to draw those crowds everywhere, isn't he? I think that I will have a lot of support. I know my mates will be littered throughout the stadium and probably come down hard on the guys supporting Federer. I heard they did that to the Murray ones, too. I'm sure that I'll have a lot of support there. The Brisbane people just get behind me, and I seem to love playing here. Hopefully it'll be no different on Thursday. Q. What are your memories of that tournament a couple years ago here? The crowd just loved you. You must have some tremendous memories from that, and using that going forward. JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, been using that for the last two years. I used that experience, my time in Brisbane, massively when I was out injured for 12 months. It's still not long ago when I was in the gym just there and having to do a million and two Thera‑Band things just trying to get my confidence back in my shoulder. It's a long rehab process, and you draw from experiences you have like the Murray match. You draw from the support that you get, that I have here. It's special, and it's special to be able to play in front of friends and family and supporters who have been there, you know, every step of the way. Q. You at all concerned you might have a moment on Thursday where you go, I'm playing Roger Federer, and it might adversely affect you? JOHN MILLMAN: To be honest with you, I'm confident in what I bring to the court. The one thing I do have a handle on and the one thing I do know about myself is that when I walk on court, I fight until the last point. So I'm going to try and control the things I can control, and that's one of the big ones. Federer, I mean, a lot of people throw it out there that he's the greatest of all‑time, and he might well be. As a person I don't know him, but what he's done for the game, only positive things get said about him. So there is all that. But when you step on the court and the first point get struck, just like I had against Murray, you don't play someone's reputation. As soon as you start playing someone's reputation, you've lost before you've even started. No doubt some of those thoughts might creep into my head, but you got to shut them out pretty quickly and trust in what you've done. To be honest with you, what I've done since August has been pretty good. I'm happy with how I'm playing. It's great to get through the first one for the summer after a break. Looks like I'm starting off where I left off, so I'm extremely excited. Regardless of the results against Roger Federer, I'll still have fantastic support in Brisbane ‑ friends, family, and all the people that have helped me get to this moment ‑ so I'm pretty excited about that. Q. Was it hard last year not being able to play? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, it was actually. I came for two sessions during the night, courtesy of Cameron Pearson one of the times, and Ken Laffey another time, so I sat in the box. But the other times I escaped down to Burleigh and had a couple weeks off down there. It was very difficult. It was about six months post surgery and just hitting pretty lightly. I still had a long way to go and still not sure whether I was going to be back playing this tournament ever again. So I think it's a credit to the people also behind me who have managed to pick me up. Their expertise has guided me through a pretty tough time. I'm just extremely grateful to them. Q. Were you really thinking that you might not get back in this level or even playing tennis? Is that how bad it was? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, 100%. I did it in Munich. Just qualified there on the clay courts there, and my first‑round match it went on me. Yeah, it was really difficult. It's one of those things that takes a long time to get better. You do have a lot of self‑doubt as to whether you're going to get back and play to your ability. What I did feel is prior to getting injured I didn't feel as if I had reached my maximum potential, and that kind of motivated me to get back and fit. I've played tennis so long, and to not play and not feel as if you've reached your potential, I think it's not a great feeling to have. So that's what kind of inspired me to get back. It's great that I'm creating more memories that I'll take with me for hopefully the rest of my life. Q. Was it a reconstruction or... JOHN MILLMAN: I did my labrum in my shoulder where the biceps tendon attaches. It's one of those freaky things. I felt my shoulder getting a little bit tight, but I had come from Mexico playing in high altitude, so completely different conditions. Yeah, it was just a freaky freak accident. Yeah, obviously I got it wrongly diagnosed. I was in Bordeaux and got it wrongly diagnosed. They thought it was a case of bursitis, so I still thought I was going to be playing main draw French Open. And then I got scans the morning of the deadline whether I rescind the wildcard or not. Because if I hadn't rescinded it and waited to see if the Cortisone helped out and I pulled out at a later date, then no Aussie would be able to play. I had a tough decision. Got scans in Paris and it revealed that it was not a case of bursitis. It was actually a torn labrum, which is a fair bit worse. Q. In the crowd on Court 1, were there any spectators that you knew? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah. It's fun. I think that's really special when you're playing and‑‑ I mean, most of the time you're pretty internal and focused on court. I actually noticed you there, Paul, out the back. I think that's really enjoyable. It's really fun when you're playing and you look up and someone is giving you words of encouragement or raising the fist and you know that person. That's the special thing about playing in Brisbane. I do know a lot of the people there, and, yeah, it's just really special. You can't really describe it unless you're playing a home tournament where you've grown up your whole life and you've just met so many wonderful people. I'm very lucky to be from Brisbane, because there are so many great people that have helped me out or supported me along the way who continue to do so. My maths teacher was there and he sends me messages when I'm overseas. Just things like that, I think that's awesome. That makes it really special. Q. I noticed Gary Stickler was there and Mark Draper. Who are you working with? JOHN MILLMAN: I do most of my work out here at the National Academy Brisbane, but I'll never forget my roots and where I was brought up, and that was at Lifetime Tennis when I finished school. Every now and then I'll pop in and give a bit of words of advice. The last few years the luxury of having a tournament in Brisbane is that Stick can come out and just give me a bit of advice. But I am doing the bulk of my work now at National Academy Brisbane, and I'm very grateful that they supported me, especially when I got injured, and helped me thorough that process. So I have been working with Mark since Traralgon Challenger last year and over the off‑season, and it's been great. Really like working with him. He's got a great character. He's really helped me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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