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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 16, 2019

John Millman

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

R. BAUTISTA AGUT/J. Millman

6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Initial reaction is disappointing result in the end?
JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, yeah, it is. It's really tough. It's obviously very tough to be here, too, after that one. I left it all out there. Gave it a crack.

Q. Are you surprised with what happened, the emotions and the momentum you had with saving those four match points, how he was able to refocus in the fifth? Were you surprised how he was able to come back out and play like nothing had happened?
JOHN MILLMAN: Not really. He's a pretty professional player. He came back, I think similar thing happened when he played against Andy. Might have had a bit of -- you know, he's a very good player. There's a reason why he won Doha, beat Djokovic and Berdych on the way, to win that just a week, two weeks ago.

Top player, very physical. Well, yeah, it was a tough match, yeah.

Q. Do you take anything from fighting back, saving match points tonight?
JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, not really. I expect that of myself. I expect to just leave it all on the court. I have high expectations of myself. I was pretty displeased -- and credit to Roberto, he started off pretty well, I probably didn't start off so well. Quite different conditions. Obviously came to Melbourne quite late from Sydney, due to weather, no one's fault. But came quite late.

I had to prepare on the outside courts against Federico Delbonis. I think they're quite a fair bit quicker. Quite slow out there tonight.

Yeah, I think I probably struggled to find my timing early on. Credit to Roberto, he came out of the gates playing some great tennis.

Yeah, it took me a while to find my feet, get used to probably drastically different conditions.

Q. Did you have a problem with the balls tonight?
JOHN MILLMAN: They're a bit heavy. It's the same for everyone. Some people love 'em, some people don't like 'em. I will say they're quite conditional, in my opinion. I would say they've probably got a bit more life here in Melbourne I think because of the dry air.

Look, I've had a couple of shoulder surgeries, elbow problems. Generally speaking, due to conditions, sometimes I play in altitude, it blows up, or sometimes with certain balls, my shoulder and elbow blow up. Look, that's me. It's personal. It's not the same for everyone. It's horses for courses. I'm very well aware of that.

It's the same for everyone. But, yeah, look, it's a heavier ball. It's fine. I thought I played all right with them. So yeah.

Q. As Australia's No. 2 player, how do you see what's going on with all the talk of Davis Cup and Lleyton Hewitt?
JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, look, I got given an opportunity to play Davis Cup, what was it, in Belgium? What year was that? 2017 maybe, '16, '17. That's when I made my debut. I've been in and around that space for a couple of ties before that.

For me, playing Davis Cup is one of the greatest honors I could have. I love playing for my country. I love playing in the country's colors. Look, I think I've always felt actually quite well-supported by the captain, by the coach, by the support staff. I've had only positive experiences from it.

That's probably it. I love the opportunity to play.

Q. You talked about your shoulder, blowing up with heavy balls. With the four-hour match tonight, the weather affecting you in Sydney last week, how are you physically?
JOHN MILLMAN: To be fair, my body's pretty good. I've been getting treatment on my shoulder and elbow since Brisbane. I'll continue to do so. I spoke to the physios just before coming here saying, I'll need that, I'm getting old now.

Look, there's nothing major. It's just all management. Over this Aussie summer, I felt it just a bit more. That's nothing to take away from the performances. I feel like I'm actually playing some of my best tennis actually.

I just got to manage my body through this time.

Q. Were you aware of any other players having issues? Did the Bernard Tomic comments take you by surprise?
JOHN MILLMAN: To be honest with you, I get along fine with Bernie. He's a Queenslander. He's a bit of a laugh at times, a bit of a larrikin. But not really. I mean, when we get in camp, it's just all about getting the win.

I think probably the selections on the whole have been pretty justified. If I speak personally from way back in Belgium, I've answered these questions, to be honest with you, no one was at my first press conference, I was in the small one with two people. I'll answer them again, but...

I was in Belgium. That's when I made my debut. I was the last person standing the tournament before, which was the US Open. I thought I was playing as good as anyone there. I thought I deserved my spot, I deserved my number.

It's the greatest honor you can have. You got to get runs on the board a little bit, too. Right now I'm No. 2 in the country, so I believe I should be in and around that space. I think if we go back, everyone's -- I think you could justify every selection that's been made.

For me personally, I love playing for the country. To be honest with you, I look at the schedule at the start of the year, I earmark which weeks are Davis Cup. If you look back in the press, I was very vocal against the changes to be made to Davis Cup because I love it. Some of the tennis players in the world were saying we need to reduce the schedule and all this. That's why we shortened the format with Davis Cup.

For me, I love those four weeks. When I see the Davis Cup weeks, I look at that as my schedule. We had a great training camp up in Brissy. I love it.

As a collective, the people involved, I think they pushed me. I'm playing some career-best tennis right now. They're a bit of a part to play in that, too.

Q. Would you like to see Nick and Bernard back in the Davis Cup setup?
JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah. Look, Bernie, he was off in the jungle for a bit there. Like I said, I've got no problems with Bernie.

Nick, I played Fast4 with Nick just the other day. I actually really like Nick. I think he's a top bloke. I think sometimes we go a bit hard on him when you don't see what he's doing off the court. He has his own charity. That's more than me, to be honest with you. I try to be a good Samaritan, whatever. Nick has used his stature and managed to have the NK Foundation, which I think is fantastic. I think sometimes we forget about those things when we're just having a go at performances.

Q. Given your form with the US Open, career-best form, do you feel like it's a missed opportunity?
JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, definitely. I feel I wanted nothing more than to go for a run here at the Australian Open. The US Open gave me a taste for that, to go really deep.

But tennis rolls around Australia for one month every year. If you don't have your finger on the pulse, we kind of forget just how strong -- I can only comment for men's tennis right now because that's what I'm involved in. Actually I love seeing Kim and Ash train in Brisbane, do so well today, that was awesome.

Just commenting on men's tennis, in Australia it's quite easy to forget, because we only are exposed to tennis three, four weeks in the whole year. We're playing 40 weeks a year, we forget just how many countries are competitive in it, just how many players are competitive in it, and we forget just how strong tennis is right now. I mean, it is incredibly strong.

It's partly my fault, I missed out by seeding by a couple of spots. I'd be playing Roberto, battles away maybe in the third round. I think I was a little bit unlucky to come up against a guy, only four guys that won a lead-in tournament. I beat one actually in Brisbane, who ended up winning Auckland. There's only three other guys. I played another one in the second round of the Australian Open.

That's partly my fault. I have to get my ranking a little bit higher so I can avoid some of those types of players. But, yeah, definitely a missed opportunity will be because I feel like I'm playing some really good tennis.

Yeah, I think we forget sometimes, too, just how strong tennis is. It's a worldwide game. We're competing against, in my opinion, some of the best athletes in the world. It's one of the most played sports in the world. That's just facts.

So we forget that a little bit. I would love to play more in Australia. I would love to have more tournaments in Australia. We only get this one month, then we're off. You only touch base again probably at the Grand Slams. In the meantime, there's a lot of people that are kicking down doors and playing some really good stuff.

Q. Given the window is quite brief in Australia, do you find it disappointing that coaches and players are sniping at each other in the media and social media?
JOHN MILLMAN: Yeah, look, to be honest with you, I don't really pay much attention to it. I just try to play tennis. I've always kept tennis and my social life quite private. Big believer in that. If you looked up at my box today, a lot of the people are people that have nothing to do with tennis, just great mates of mine that have been from school that have come on the rollercoaster ride with me.

Kind of keep it pretty private. Obviously you see a bit on social media. I mean, the stuff that goes on social media right now, I don't know, with some of the comments made. To be honest with you, that's easy stuff. It's the other stuff on social media that I try to avoid, the death threats and stuff. That's the ones I try to avoid.

This stuff, it's in one ear, out the other. The other stuff you try to ignore a little bit more.

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