Throughout his career, John Millman has experienced many great moments on a tennis court. But the Australian made a major career breakthrough at the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan on Sunday.
The 31-year-old overcame Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 6-1 to capture his maiden ATP Tour title in his third tour-level championship match. Millman played his best tennis in critical moments, as he saved all six break points he faced and broke serve on three occasions.
Millman extended his unbeaten ATP Head2Head record against Mannarino to 3-0 after one hour and 48 minutes to become the fifth first-time champion on the ATP Tour in 2020. The fourth seed joins Ugo Humbert, Casper Ruud, Thiago Seyboth Wild and Miomir Kecmanovic on the list.
Millman also became the fifth player in 2020 to win an ATP Tour crown after saving match points en route to the trophy. In his quarter-final against Tommy Paul, the World No. 45 saved two match points at 3-5 in the third set and rallied from 0/5 down in a final-set tie-break to beat the American 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(5).
2020 Champions To Save Match Point
| Player | Tournament | Opponent | Round | M.P. Saved |
| Jiri Vesely | Pune | Ilya Ivashka Ricardas Berankis |
QF SF |
2 M.P. 4 M.P. |
| Reilly Opelka | Delray Beach | Milos Raonic | SF | 1 M.P. |
| Novak Djokovic | Dubai | Gael Monfils | SF | 3 M.P. |
| Ugo Humbert | Antwerp | Daniel Evans | SF | 4 M.P. |
| John Millman | Nur-Sultan | Tommy Paul | QF | 2 M.P. |
Mannarino was appearing in his 10th ATP Tour championship match (1-9). The Frenchman advanced to the final in Nur-Sultan with straight-sets wins against Yuichi Sugita, Mackenzie McDonald and Emil Ruusuvuori.
Millman was put under pressure late in the first set, but he attacked Mannarino’s backhand and served well to save five break points. The Australian used his forehand to earn his first break point at 6-5 and ripped a backhand winner down the line to take his opportunity.
From 1-1 in the second set, Millman claimed five straight games to charge to the title. The Brisbane native continued to play aggressively with his backhand and attacked his opponent’s backhand to extract a series of errors.
Millman earns 250 FedEx ATP Rankings points and $13,410. Mannarino collects 150 points and $11,210.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/34JCEaA
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