Former world number 33 now claims there was a way you could ‘fool’ Roger Federer after beating him at the US Open

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Roger Federer left tennis in 2022 as one of the all-time greats, having secured a stunning 103 ATP Tour-level titles.

Federer won 20 Grand Slam titles during his illustrious career, behind only Novak Djokovic (24) and Rafael Nadal (22) in the all-time list.

But it wasn’t always happiness for the Swiss icon, with Federer left heartbroken by his 2008 Wimbledon final loss.

Federer dominated the iconic grass courts at Wimbledon during his career, but lost that year’s final to a determined Rafael Nadal.

The former has now been joined by the latter in hanging up his racket, with Federer now congratulating Juan Martin del Potro after his official retirement.

John Millman says you could ‘fool’ Roger Federer after famous win

John Millman meanwhile has been looking back on Federer’s career, with the Australian having beating the legendary figure at the 2018 US Open.

“Roger really sets up his game style with that backhand slice,” Millman said on The AO Show. “I think he has a great backhand slide. And I think some players will drop that one a bit short or can’t quite penetrate and cut sideline off that slice. As soon as you go a little bit central with him he is so close to get around and use his forehand and open you up.

READ MORE: Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov explain what was ‘so different’ about facing Roger Federer compared to Rafael Nadal

“That opens up so much landscape for him and all of a sudden he can use his angles, he can get in, he can use his hands at the net. We know how good a volleyer he was. I never really struggled with that. My two handed backhand was quite solid. I used a lot of left hand on my backhand, which meant I could get under the slice and really cut sideline off that shot, which I think he is not really used to. I think he was used to players going middle corridor against him.

“And out of the forehand wing – and this sounds a bit silly and maybe I am completely wrong – but I felt as if Roger, because of the array of weaponry that he had and how graceful he made the game look, and even when you practiced with him he would go one or two and then try and hit a back spinning drop shot or a short slice, or some slapped forehand cross court winner.

“He wants to try different things and I felt as if I could repeat these patterns, with quality, I felt as if you could almost fool Roger and he would try and do something which wasn’t quite on. I know that sounds silly and I might type to Roger and be completely off the mark, but that’s at least what I felt.”

What was John Millman’s record versus Roger Federer?

Millman is one of the few players to actually boast a Grand Slam win over Federer, although he is among the norm when it comes to head-to-head records with the Swiss icon.

That 2018 US Open round of 16 triumph over Federer was Millman’s only triumph, with the Australian losing their three other meetings.

READ MORE: I beat Roger Federer in his last ever match at Wimbledon and now I’ve won eight ATP titles

He did, however, come very close to another famous victory, with Millman falling just short in a five-set thriller at the 2020 Australian Open.

Also retired, the Australian reached a career-high rank of 33rd in the world, with Federer of course having reached the top spot.