The retiring John Millman and teen partner Edward Winter saved two match points in their first-round doubles victory at Australian Open 2024.
Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2024 | Leigh Rogers
John Millman’s professional playing career is not over quite yet.
The retiring 34-year-old came close to bowing out in the opening round of the Australian Open 2024 men’s doubles competition today, but in trademark fashion, dug deep to score a steely victory alongside South Australian teen Edward Winter.
While Millman is contesting the final Grand Slam tournament of his storied career, this is 19-year-old Winter’s first Grand Slam main-draw appearance.
Despite their vast differences in age and experience, the Aussie wildcards combined brilliantly to bravely save two match points before triumphing 6-7(3) 6-2 7-6(12) against New Zealand’s Marcus Daniell and Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner.
> READ: Emotional Millman’s singles career comes to an end at Australian Open 2024
This sets up a second-round clash with world No.4 Matt Ebden and his Indian partner Rohan Bopanna.
The second seeds survived a massive challenge from Australian wildcards James Duckworth and Marc Polmans in the opening round.
After falling behind 0-5 in the opening set, Ebden and Bopanna recovered to score a hard-fought 7-6(5) 4-6 7-6(2) win.
Another pair of Aussie wildcards, Adam Walton and Tristan Schoolkate, lost a heartbreaking battle after holding a match point.
Portugal’s Francisco Cabral and Brit Henry Patten managed to edge out a 6-3 6-7(6) 7-6(4) victory in their two-hour and 43-minute encounter.
Aussies in action – Australian Open
TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s doubles, first round
[2] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) d [WC] James Duckworth (AUS)/Marc Polmans (AUS) 7-6(5) 4-6 7-6(2)
[WC] John Millman (AUS)/Edward Winter (AUS) d Marcus Daniell (NZL)/Marcelo Demoliner (BRA) 6-7(3) 6-2 7-6(12)
John Peers (AUS)/Harri Heliovaara (FIN) d [WC] Alex Bolt (AUS)/Luke Saville (AUS) 6-3 7-6(4)
Francisco Cabral (POR)/Henry Patten (GBR) d [WC] Tristan Schoolkate (AUS)/Adam Walton (AUS) 6-3 6-7(6) 7-6(4)
Andre Goransson (SWE)/Albano Olivetti (FRA) d [WC] Blake Ellis (AUS)/Andrew Harris (AUS) 6-1 7-5
Women’s doubles, first round
Wu Fang-Hsien (TPE)/Zhu Lin (CHN) d [7] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) 3-6 6-3 7-6(5)
COMING UP
Men’s doubles, first round
[16] Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/Jason Kubler (AUS) v Chris O’Connell (AUS)/Laslo Djere…
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