John Millman confident of better days ahead after first ATP Tour final appearance

Having overcome adversity, John Millman is confident of reaping the benefits in coming years after reaching his first tour final.

ohn Millman after he finished second at the Hungarian Open in Budapest. Picture: AFP.

Having overcome significant adversity in his career, Davis Cup representative John Millman is confident of reaping the benefits in coming years after reaching his first tour final.

But there is one understandable caveat, namely that his body holds together, with the Queenslander well aware of the work required for this to happen given his history.

The 28-year-old enjoyed a stellar, if difficult week when reaching the final in Budapest.

The right-hander was twice forced to return the day after starting matches to finish them, which undeniably proved a factor in his 7-5 6-4 loss to Italian Marco Cecchinato in the final on Sunday.

Australian John Millman during the final of the Hungarian Open in Budapest. Picture: AFP.

On the morning of the final, Millman edged 5th seed Aljaz Bedene in a third-set tie-breaker after play had resumed at a set apiece.

“I left it all out there and probably ran out of gas a little bit at the end,” Millman said.

“I can be very happy with my achievements when I reflect on them a little bit later.

“To think it’s my first tournament on clay this season, I don’t grow up on this stuff — it’s not a surface we play on too much back in Australia, and I’m really playing these guys in their own backyard.”

Although beaten, Millman will take significant confidence into the rest of the clay court season culminating in the French Open at the end of this month, where Rafael Nadal will start an overwhelming favourite in pursuit of an 11th Roland Garros title.

The Spaniard claimed an 11th Barcelona title on the weekend when too strong for promising Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, which follows an 11th success in the Monte Carlo Masters last week.

He has now won 46 straight sets on clay and posted his 400th career win on the surface in Barcelona.

Nadal’s latest title coming 16 years after he became the ninth player aged under 16 to win a professional match when successful on debut in the Mallorca’s Open.

Millman, meanwhile, has jumped to a ranking of 69 and now plays in the Istanbul Open this week, where he has drawn Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

The tournament was the scene of Bernard Tomic’s first ATP Tour Match this year, with the Queenslander receiving a wildcard.

He was unable to capitalise when serving for the match against the 6th seeded Viktor Troicki, dropping the last four games to fall 6-3 0-6 7-5.

Bernard Tomic. Picture: Michael Klein.

Currently ranked 210, the former Wimbledon quarter-finalist will slide further to the mid-230s.

Millman deserves significant credit for his perseverance, having overcome a career-threatening shoulder injury and a serious hip problem to build a sound career.

After debuting for Australia in a Davis Cup semi-final in Belgium last year, he shapes as a sound candidate to be a regular member of the squad given his resilience and maturity.

To do that and win titles, the 28-year-old will hope for better luck with his body.

“My dream is to win one of these and I feel like I can put myself in more of these positions in the future,” he told the ATP website.

“When my body’s healthy, I’m confident where my game’s at.

“If I can stay fit and healthy — and I’ve found out that’s a pretty tricky task — I can climb up the rankings.”

His Davis Cup teammate Alex de Minaur was able to put to good use a wildcard in Portugal.

The Sydneysider, who will partner Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt in doubles, was a dominant 6-3 6-1 winner over Gastao Elias.

De Minaur, who is close to breaking into the top 100, faces Australian Open semi-finalist Kyle Edmund in the second round.

He and Hewitt are pitted against second seeds Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen.

Hewitt reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open doubles this year with Sam Groth.

The 37-year-old has confirmed plans to play a number of doubles events this year and The Australian understands this will include an appearance at Wimbledon, where he claimed the singles title in 2002.

Lleyton Hewitt, left, with Alex de Minaur. Picture: Getty Images.

A week after combining in the Fed Cup, Sam Stosur was able to progress to the second round in a tournament in Prague when compatriot Dasha Gavrilova retired at the start of the third set after rolling an ankle.

At Challenger level, Marc Polmans and John-Patrick Smith fell just shy of claiming titles in Tallahassee and Leon respectively when beaten in tight finals.

Polmans will move to a career-high ranking of 168 and has furthered his claims of featuring alongside de Minaur in the ATP Next Gen championships in Milan in November.

Elsewhere, Melbourne teenager Jamie Fourlis and veteran Arina Rodionova won $25,000 ITF events in Italy and Portugal respectively.

Both are expected to compete for Australia’s reciprocal wildcard into the French Open at a closed event in Paris a week prior to the grand slam.