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What's the story?
Homeboy John Millman has come under the scanner after allegedly tampering with the ball conditions in his Australian Open 2020 third round match against Roger Federer. Maria Sharapova's former coach Sven Groeneveld brought the incident to light by posting the video clip on Twitter.
The background
After overcoming a challenge from the 31st seed Hubert Hurkacz in the second round, Australia's own Millman progressed to the third round of the new decade's first Grand Slam tournament. The unseeded superstar awaited a tough challenge from Federer, and although he was the underdog heading into the match, Millman gave the Swiss legend a run for his money.
He surprised the tennis universe by winning the first set 6-4. Federer bounced back by winning the next two sets. However, Millman ensured that the match went into the fifth set, which was ultimately won by Federer.
The heart of the matter
In the video clip he posted on Twitter, Groeneveld wrote,
"Millman applying the old trick in speeding up the first serve by rolling the ball on his (I assume) wet shirt before he serves? Is that legal in tennis I know it's not in other ball sports like cricket and baseball? Do we have a rule in tennis?"
This clip is from the fourth set of the match and as per the Express, Millman was rubbing the tennis ball with his wet shirt to speed up his first serve. According to the rules of USTA, a player is not allowed to do anything which materially changes the condition of the ball.
What's next?
It will be interesting to see if any action is taken against Millman. As far as the Australian Open is concerned, Federer will next face Marton Fucsovics in the next round.
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