Australian Open 2020: Roger Federer wins an emotional and epic thriller against John Millman 

Perhaps nobody could have predicted the amount of drama that Day 5 of the season's first Grand Slam could offer but the Australian Open outdid the normal expectations by presenting one of the most emotional days in recent Slam history.

The day reached its pinnacle moment with Roger Federer clashing with Australian, John Millman in what will go down the books of history as an epic thriller that taxed emotionally and physically - draining and pumping the players over amply shared break points and nerve-wracking tiebreakers. Roger Federer has lived to see another day at Melbourne as he overcame Millman in a gruelling 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(10-8) clash.

Caroline Wozniacki played her last match

For a day that began with Caroline Wozniacki having to play her career's last match one too early as Tunisian challenger, Ons Jabeur, ousted the former Australian Open champion in three sets, one could anticipate the impending drama. Soon enough, Chinese 27th seed Wang Qiang surprised Serena Williams by beating the 23-time Grand Slam Champion in as early as the third round of a Major. Following the list of upsets, even Defending Champion and World No. 3, Naomi Osaka, also got a lesson from the 15-year-old Coco Gauff, who defeated the 22-year-old in straight sets.

The air, as you must have guessed, was ominous when a disheartened Osaka left the court and Roger Federer and John Millman occupied the Rod Laver Arena for the second Night Session match. The atmosphere was unusually charged today considering how an Australian is playing against one of tennis' greatest players. The split in the crowd support was palpable and proved to be a crucial tool over the next brutally exhausting and emotionally restless four hours.

John Millman

Truth be told, it was John Millman who set the ball rolling in the direction of an epic match and pushed the 38-year-old to his extremes, drawing out screams after every odd intermittent point. Millman, with his halfway smug and halfway smiling face, forced the Swiss great to produce a glaring 82 unforced errors throughout the five sets.

The alarm bells started to ring with Federer being broken early into the first set and Millman producing some high-quality tennis. A moment of relief gushed over Federer-loyals at the Rod Laver Arena when Roger broke Millman to get back on serve, but soon enough he squandered off his next game to love and almost gifted the ever-smiling Australian the first set in under 27 minutes.

2020 Australian Open - Day 5

Towards the fag end of the first, Roger was starting to get his usual rhythm back as the six-time Champion considerably stepped up his game in the second set. However, neither players could be broken on serve which then forced it into a tie-breaker. Lady luck began to shine on the 38-year-old as he attacked the Millman serve with full force and rushed to take the set to level up matters on the scoreboard.

The third set also followed in lieu of the second, but it saw Federer's game improving even more as he produced an unbelievable number of winners, packed it in with aces which entertained the roaring crowd, torn in-between their loyalties towards Federer and the Aussie lad. Millman, who has ousted Hurkacz in the previous round, was in sensational form himself and invited a whole lot of the trouble to the Federer forehand, attacking it constantly.

There are a lot of factors that were at play today. While Millman is at 30 and his physique and form is exceptional, to say the least, Federer who is 38, visibly struggled to keep up with the pace and the strong service games Millman begged of him.

However, the 20-time Grand Slam Champion used his skills and relied on his mettle of experience to guide his way through the rest of the match and with nerves of steel battled the feisty Australian who roared dangerously after every big point.

2020 Australian Open - Day 5

The real challenge was the fourth set where things went into unexpected territories. Federer handed out a lone break point in what was an otherwise balanced set and Millman showed extreme acumen and captured that one opportunity. Securing that break, the Aussie was well on his way to claiming the fourth set and towing the match towards a final deciding set. The scoreboard by then looked extremely brutal for the 30-something players who by then had been playing for over three hours.

Into the final set, both players brought out the best in each other and Federer was up a couple of match points even when the fifth set had not been forced in a tie-break. The one thing that is agonizing to watch in tight, close-quartered matches like this is a tie-break and it was this that Millman forced the final moments of the match into, as the crowd went tizzy.

The real turnaround of the match took place here with Millman breaking Federer on his first service and rallying off to a spectacular lead. Federer was broken twice on his tie-break serve, while Millman raced off to an 8-4 lead. As per the revised rules of final-set tie-breaks, a minimum of 10 points had to be scored.

2020 Australian Open - Day 5

Federer fans heaved sighs as the six-time Australian Open Champion trailed at 8-4 and Millman got back on serve. However, it was too premature to write him off just then as Federer pulled off a stunning comeback and as if seeking vengeance for the five-set loss at the 2019 Wimbledon finals, played his heart out, breaking Millman on the stretch while holding his serve.

The final point was nerve-wracking with Federer launching a forehand winner cross-court to secure the victory and achieve a rare record of winning 100 matches at the Australian Open. With that epic win, Roger Federer remains on course for getting closer to his 21st Grand Slam as he enters into the fourth round with much flourish.