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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY SUNCORPJanuary 8, 2015John MillmanBRISBANE, QUEENSLAND R. FEDERER/J. Millman THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. What are the emotions after that? Is it past the stage that you're just happy to be against those guys? What are you feeling? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, definitely not. Obviously playing someone like Roger, who's a class act, I mean, it's a privilege to play against someone of that caliber. But to be honest with you, it's just pretty much disappointment. I've told you guys all along that when I walk onto the court I don't play someone's reputation, and today was no different. I went out there to win the match and had chances and didn't, so you get disappointed when that happens. Q. What was going through your head 3‑1 up in the second set after you got that break? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, I was pumped. I hit a great passing shot to get break. Then I composed myself. I didn't think I played the worst game. I think I got one call that was called out that I questioned and got overruled and was in. Then I got one that missed by as much as the other one that was in by maybe this much on a pivotal moment. It's a game of inches sometimes. Went my way on the first one and not on the second one. Then I think I had another three break points and I think Roger played maybe like three drop volleys that might have gone over the net by that much. (Indicating.) You got to lift when you play these guys and come up with something special. Yeah, just didn't quite do it. Q. What does I guess not just the match but the tournament here, what does that do for you in terms of the year looking forward? Getting just the confidence? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, I mean, I've been supremely confident. I think I've been on a bit of a streak lately, so I'm confident in my game and more and more confident in my body. It was even more of on honor to play in front of the people who have worked so hard to get me back out on court. My surgeon was in my box; my fitness trainers; my coaches; my friends and family. My sister bought 50 tickets, so she was somewhere. So just those people who have managed to pick me up and get me back out there, for me that's the biggest privilege I can have to play in front of them and to show them that it wasn't a waste of time. Every time I walk out on the court in the future, like I have been since I've come back, it's purely about them, to repay everything they've done for me. Q. What sort of plan do you have for the year? JOHN MILLMAN: Obviously depends on where my ranking goes, too. Haven't got many points to defend. I have eight points to defend between now and August. Yeah, I really want to be playing these tournaments week in, week out as soon as possible. That's my goal. That's been my dream since I started out on the tour grinding in futures qualifying. So to be able to play these types of tournaments week in, week out and have these experiences against Roger Federers and Andy Murrays and these types of people, yeah, that's why you play the game. You probably don't play it to be grinding away in Romania in qualifying of a future. (Laughter.) Q. Close against Murray and Federer. What do you need to do now to get to the stage where you can... JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, definitely. You know, when you first start traveling, I used think ‑‑ I had just finished school and I was playing some future qualifying events. I came back and, Oh, mom, these guys are so good. I'm useless. Then you win matches and start qualifying and start winning futures, and then its same process and the same thought patterns would go in at the challenger circuit. With wins and matches gain confidence. I mean, I'm very disheartened by the result today. I'm very upset with the result. But I'm not discouraged. I took it to one of the greatest players of all‑time. I have no doubt that I could do it again. Q. Finally, I had a quick chat with Mark yesterday, and he mentioned top 100 and stuff like that. Is that where you want to be? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, definitely. If you're playing main draw events here you have to be inside the top 100. That's my goal. I would like to do that as soon as possible. It's fantastic in Australia that you get the opportunity to play in Brisbane, Australian Open, and start off the year here. It's been awesome being able to train here, and Australians are at an advantage. It's great that we have some tournaments at the start of the year. Then what you've got to do is when you start traveling is to keep that intensity and keep that mindset. That's something that I think I have been doing really well, especially as of late even better. I'm always going to be competitive I feel, because when I walk on court I give it my all. Today was no different. Roger beat me in he end there and broke me to win it, but it wasn't through lack of trying. I hope you guys could see that. (Smiling.) Q. You spoke about not being intimidated by reputation. Once you walked into the match, was there a particular part of the match where you felt, okay, this is one human being and I'm another human being? JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, straightaway. It's always nice. I had a tight hold to begin with and kind of found my feet early on. After that, you know, you get through a tight hold like that‑‑ I remember when I played Murray and I got whooped 6‑1 in the first set and I was playing really good. In that match I was thinking, Oh, my goodness. I was concerned about the people that bought tickets to the match. Luckily, the girl's match before me went for a while so they got their money's worth. No, but, yeah, just for me it would be a real disappointment if I went out there and played someone's reputation. I think someone like Roger would appreciate that maybe. I don't know. He's a fierce competitor and his record speaks for itself. He's probably the greatest competitor to play the game. For me, I couldn't just walk out there and be intimidated, because it may be easy to do, but you've got to really back yourself and have confidence in yourself. And I do you have confidence in myself. I think I've been unlucky at times with some injuries, but I think I do have the game to take it to the next level. Q. Probably don't know yet, but you're trending on Twitter. Is that the first time that that's ever happened that you know of? JOHN MILLMAN: I'm not totally sure. Yes, I won something. (Smiling.) Q.How do you feel when you hear that? JOHN MILLMAN: For me, it's just all about the support. It's about the support that I have especially here in Brisbane, but the support I have worldwide. I've got some great friends who have sent me words of encouragement from Switzerland. Roger is from my club where I played some matches in Switzerland. In Germany I've got some great ‑‑ I've got friends all over the world. Spain. At the end of the day, I think with tennis it's having these types of experiences. I would've loved to have won to make it a better experience, but for me it's also the relationships you make with people and the people I got to meet across the world. I wouldn't swap that for anything. Q. Do you know what you're doing in week two? JOHN MILLMAN: Look, I'm going to talk to Sharky about that, the coach. It's a quick turnaround to Sydney. I'll be in qualifying there, I imagine. That's on Saturday. Sign in tomorrow night. So, again, it's a thing about trying to be smart about my body. So I think I'm going to, after this, do the right things. I'm going to do a solid warm down, and tomorrow when I wake up I'll probably make the call as to just how good I'm feeling and if I'm ready to go for Sydney. Hopefully Sydney and then obviously on to the Australian Open. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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