A $1.02 bet on Roger Federer. You'd think that's as safe as any punt you could place.
But an Aussie punter seeking to gain a $700 profit lost $35,000 when Roger Federer suffered a fourth round defeat at the US Open yesterday.
The 20-time grand slam winner was stunned yesterdayin a five set defeat to the unseeded Australian John Millman.
It was a victory many Australians would have been proud of as the 29-year-old Queenslander became just the second Aussie to defeat Federer in a grand slam match and the first since Pat Rafter in 1999.
But talk about un-Australian. TAB.com.au revealed before the match, a punter placed the large bet on the Swiss great to win the match at the very low odds of $1.02.
It's only the second time in Federer's past 14 appearances at the US Open that he's lost before the quarterfinals. He is, after all, a five-time champion at the tournament, part of his men's-record haul of 20 Grand Slam titles.
So much for that much-anticipated matchup between Federer and 13-time major champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. Instead, it'll be the 55th-ranked Millman, who had never made it past the third round at a Slam until last week, taking on No. 6 seed Djokovic.
Federer is probably done winning Slams for real this time. The 2017 run was icing on the cake and the Aussie this year was icing on top of the icing. You’re not supposed to be at the top level of tennis in your late 30s.
Can we not act like it's a tragedy if Fed falls here? He's won 20 majors. He's 37. It's miserably humid. He will be back ... and @johnhmillman deserves his moment
I said at the last Aussie final that “time waits for no one. Except @rogerfederer .” But to be fair, there are NO exceptions. Off nights happen to them all, no matter how great, with increasing frequency as time marches on. And they always make us sad.
