John Millman will make his Wimbledon main draw debut this morning as he takes on Tommy Robredo in the first round at the All England Club. Join The Roar for live scores of the event from around 1:30am AEST, after the match between Matt Ebden and Blaz Rola.
On the tenth attempt of qualifying for a Grand Slam event, after turning pro in 2006, Millman qualified for his first ever Wimbledon main draw.
It will be his third appearance in a main draw of a Grand Slam after winning wildcards to the Australian Open in 2013 and 2015.
In 2013 he almost defeated Tatsuma Ito to record his first main draw victory. He would lose 7-5 in the final set.
His qualifying campaign at Wimbledon wasn’t without drama. He lost the first set in the second round match against Tristan Lamasine, before winning 12 of the last 17 games to make the final round.
Millman was then 6-1 2-0 down against Enzo Couacaud in the final match.
The Queenslander, who is currently 119 in the world, would then win 18 of the last 24 games to qualify for the main draw and blow away his opponent.
It is an incredible achievement considering the Aussie was ranked outside of the top 1100 in the world at the same time last year.
Since then he has won two ITF titles, two Challenger titles, and made the final in three other Challenger events, to move within striking distance of the top 100.
If he can win today then he could move into the top 100 after the Wimbledon championships.
To see that happen, after years of debilitating shoulder injuries, would be an incredibly emotional achievement for the Aussie.
The focus though is on Tommy Robredo, who is playing his 14th Wimbledon event this year.
His best performance was last year when he made the fourth round.
These two have faced each other before in 2013 at the Sydney ATP event. On that occasion Millman won and defeated the Spaniard 6-3 6-4 on his way to the second round in the event.
The big question heading into this match is can the Aussie do it again on a bigger stage?
He certainly is a chance with Robredo’s game very similar to the Australian. Both players play from the baseline and like to grind their opponents into mistakes.
The Aussie also pounced on his serve in the previous match, breaking the Spaniard three times.
Millman isn’t entirely out of contention for this match.
Robredo deserves to be the favourite, and is 19th in the world for a reason.
Millman though can surprise the Spaniard if he serves well and controls the baseline. He will win sets tonight but will ultimately fall just short as fitness and experience come to the fore.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the upset occurred though.
Prediction: Robredo 3-1
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