Punter left to rue after $35,000 bet on Federer at $1.02

One punter opted to plunge $35,000 on Roger Federer to beat Aussie John Millman at the anaemic odds of $1.02 in the hope of winning the princely sum of $700

John Millman shows some emotion during his fourth-round clash with Roger Federer at the US Open. Picture: Alex Pantling/Getty

SOMEONE, somewhere, is almost certainly in a deeply catatonic state of disbelief after John Millman's boilover win over Roger Federer in the fourth round of the US Open.

Ignoring the age-old adage that there is no such thing as a sure thing, one punter opted to plunge $35,000 on Federer to beat Millman at the anaemic odds of $1.02 in the hope of winning the princely sum of $700.

Big mistake!

As we now know, Millman triumphed 3-6 7-5 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-3) to complete one of the greatest upsets of all time against the tennis legend and send the aforementioned punter crying into his beer - if he can now afford to stump up for some post-tennis blues frothies.

Federer, the world's No. 2 seed, defeated Nick Kyrgios in straight sets, to advance to the round of 16, but had trouble against a confident, attacking Millman.

Though the Swiss star's serve was off, and he didn't appear to be in his usual form, Millman took advantage, playing on the front foot and swinging with ambition.

The win marks the first time the 29-year-old Millman has defeated a top-10 opponent, having entered this match in New York City with an 0-10 record.

He'll move on to face world No.6 seed Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals with the match set for Thursday.

Betting organisations are now taking notice of Millman's chances, with Sportsbet cutting his odds of winning the title from a huge $501 before the tournament began to $67.

Millman was a huge underdog, quoted at $19 to defeat Federer, but one prescient punter placed a $500 wager on him at those long odds.

Meanwhile, another punter stands to win $15,050 with Sportsbet following a $50 wager at odds of $301 should Millman go all the way.

Millman is $11.50 to defeatDjokovic ($1.05) in their quarter-final match.

"Australia has a new tennis star to shout about and here's to more of the same from Millman. He's a refreshing change to what we've seen from some of our other better known stars of the game,'' said sportsbet.com.au's Will Byrne.

- Fox Sports

Originally published as Punter left to rue after $35,000 bet on Federer at $1.02