John Millman will request his clash with Roger Federer is not on centre court at the Australian Open – and the 20-time Grand Slam winner says ‘bring it on’.
“Yeah, I mean, look, I’m always happy when the crowd gets involved,” Federer said. “Look, I don’t choose which court I play on.
“I don’t know if he was joking or if he was serious.
“You would think a match like this should be played at Rod Laver Arena maybe. I don’t know who else, if the other seed has good match-ups, as well.
“No, but I think possibly. He knows Margaret Court Arena better, Melbourne Arena. But I haven’t thought of it.
“I figure this was always going to be on Rod Laver Arena, if this happens. I’m ready to go anywhere, whatever it takes.”
It is unlikely that Millman’s request will be accepted but the 30-year-old will do anything to try and gain an advantage.
“I don’t think Craig will take me too serious,” Millman explained. “More so just to throw a spanner in the works for Roger.
“I don’t know if he knows the other courts. He hits on the outside ones, but he hasn’t played too many.
“I don’t know if he would have played too many matches on the outside ones.
“Look, I love a vocal crowd. Obviously the matches I played, probably two really special courts, Show Court 3 and Melbourne Arena, are notorious for the crowd support you get there, the vocal Aussies.
“I very much consider myself, and I think the people who know me, know that I’m just your typical Aussie bloke. So I’m one of the people.
“The people get the ground passes and the people go to those courts.
“Look, I know it’s a little corporate at Rod Laver, but it’s still a pretty cool court to play on.”
Federer and Millman will go head-to-head on Friday in a blockbuster schedule which also includes Coco Gauff vs Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams vs Wang Qiang and Novak Djokovic vs Yoshihito Nishioka.