Just under a year since the finest hour of his career, John Millman is keen to prove beating Roger Federer at the US Open was not a one-off.
Millman stunned the tennis world with his fourth-round victory over the greatest men’s player ever at Flushing Meadows last September en route to his best run at a grand slam.
Despite that stand-out display, the likeable Queenslander has struggled to follow it up at the Australian and French Opens this year, failing to go further than the second round.
Tough early draws in both tournaments did him no favours with his Melbourne Park campaign ended in the second round by tough Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in five sets.
He then faced world No.5 Alexander Zverev in the opening round at Roland Garros where he fought bravely back from two sets down only to again to lose the fifth.
Millman opened his Wimbledon campaign with a routine 6-2 6-3 6-4 win over Bolivian Hugo Dellien and now faces Serbia’s Laslo Djere on Thursday for a place in the third round.
World No.35 Djere, 25, has enjoyed something of a breakout season, climbing into the top 40 for the first time.
But his best results have all come on clay and Millman knows he has a golden opportunity to reach the last 32 for only the second time in five appearances at the All England Club.
However, the world No.64 accepts he’s going to up his game to get there.
“There is no such thing as an easy match at any grand slam,” Millman said.
“All these guys, whether they are top-100 or have qualified, they’ve all earned their spot and deserve to be there.
“Regardless of who I play I go in with the same mentality that I am not going to play someone’s reputation, regardless of how good they are.
“I have been doing this long enough, had a few good performances and the runs on the board to know that if I can control what I can control and bring my best tennis then I feel I can match any player in the draw.”
Millman and Djere have never met before on court but the Australian is well aware of the threat the 31st seed poses.
“He had a great clay-court season, but I think that he’s really grown with a bit of confidence,” he said.
“I don’t think he minds necessarily the quicker conditions
“We saw him on a quicker clay court in Madrid, where there’s altitude, where he knocked off Del Potro, which is never an easy.
“Now he’s seeded at a slam … so you’ve got to respect him.”
Victory on Thursday could see Millman face the daunting task of taming big-serving American Sam Querrey, who eliminated world No.4 Dominic Thiem in the first round and has previously ousted Andy Murray and Novak Djojkovic at Wimbledon.
