US Open 2018: Roger Federer shocked by John Millman; Maria Sharapova exits on Day 8

The Flushing Meadows was left reeling from a seismic shock as second seed Roger Federer was ousted by World No. 55 John Millman in the fourth round of the US Open 2018 at New York on Monday. The Swiss was not the only former champion to bite the dust as 2006 winner Maria Sharapova too exited the final Major of the year while reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic had absolutely no problems in progressing to the quarter-finals.

Federer’s loss meant that fans were deprived of the blockbuster quarter-final showdown between the 20-time Major winner and Djokovic, which had been one of the biggest talking points of the US Open ever since the draw was announced.

The World No. 2 was a pale shadow of the player who began the Slam season in stellar fashion in January by winning the Australian Open. Instead, all the crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium got to witness was a painful struggle from a man who had been crowned a champion on this court as many as five times in the past.

Federer’s precision went missing for a large part after having begun the match with a smooth display in the first set. His mounting unforced errors -- 76 in total when he finished the match -- prevented him from taking a sizeable lead and allowed the Australian to make a comeback.

The 37-year-old squandered a couple of set points in the second set and was even a break up in the fourth before Millman stormed back to dash his hopes. In the ensuing fourth set tie-break, the Swiss dumped tired forehands into the net which saw the Australian go up to 6-1 and have five match points.

Even though the Swiss saved a couple of them, it was not enough to puncture Millman’s confidence by then and the latter closed out the 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(9), 7-6(3) win in 3 hours 34 minutes.

This was the earliest defeat suffered by Federer in New York since his fourth round capitulation to Tommy Robredo five years ago. The former numero uno player later on admitted that he found it tough to deal with the humid conditions.

Djokovic keeps it clean

13-time Major champion Djokovic needed a medical evaluation but that could not derail him as he was able to battle the suffocating conditions much better than Federer. The Serb emerged a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 winner over World No. 68 Joao Sousa en route to the last-eight.

The former World No. 1 kept in squeaky clean with 23 winners and 18 unforced errors. Djokovic, who warmed up for the US Open with his maiden title at the Cincinnati Masters, is looking for his third title at the Flushing Meadows.

Memorable birthday for Suarez Navarro

Suarez Navarro (left) and Sharapova shake hands after the match

Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro made her 30th birthday one to remember as she knocked out Sharapova 6-4, 6-3 in in 1 hour 31 minutes to make her second career quarter-final at the US Open.

Sharapova’s game was way off the mark after showing signs of resurgence for the past one week and her 38 unforced errors simply did not help her cause. The Russian’s serve became a liability once again and she made eight double faults, dropping her service game six times.

The World No. 24, seeded 30th this time, next goes on to meet the 14th seed Madison Keys, a runner-up at this tournament last year. Keys hardly broke a sweat in her 6-1, 6-3 rout of the 29th seeded Dominika Cibulkova, bringing her aggressive game to the fore.

First Major quarter-final for Osaka

20-year-old Naomi Osaka, who has been touted as a future Slam champion for quite some time now, advanced to her maiden Major quarter-final when she outlasted the 26th seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

The Japanese had to do it the hard way, coming back from a break down in the final set to clinch the win. Osaka won her first WTA title at Indian Wells this year, establishing herself as a big hope from the upcoming generation.

She has finally been able to take it up one notch higher at the final Slam of the year where she also became the first Japanese woman in 14 years to reach the quarter-finals at the US Open.

Nishikori vs Cilic rematch

There was more good news for Japanese tennis fans on Day 8 as former runner-up Kei Nishikori beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to set up a rematch of the 2014 US Open final with Marin Cilic. The seventh seeded Cilic needed nearly two-and-a-half hours to get the better of the 10th seeded David Goffin 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-4.

The two have already met 14 times, out of which, eight matches have gone in Nishikori’s favour while their biggest ever clash went the Croat’s way at New York four years ago. Nishikori has won their only duel of the year so far at the Monte Carlo Masters.