Gilles Muller posted a second consecutive stellar grass-court season this summer and has emerged as a popular sleeper pick to advance deep into the draw at Wimbledon 2017.
Here’s a little more on Luxembourg’s most successful men’s tennis player:
The Gilles Muller File
Age: 34
Height: 6-4
Residence: Reckange/Mess, Luxembourg
Current Rank: 26
Career-High Rank: 26 (May 2017)
Best US Open Finish: QF (2008)
The Baseline
- Muller made the biggest jump in the Wimbledon seedings of any player, going from No. 26 in the world to seeded 16th for the year’s third major. The All England Club uses a unique seeding system that factors in grass-court results from the past two years, and Muller’s have been impressive. In his two Wimbledon tune-ups this year, the big-serving lefty won the Den Bosch title and reached the semifinals at Queen’s Club, and in 2016 he reached the Den Bosch final, advanced to the quarterfinals at Queen’s Club, the semifinals in Nottingham and the final in Newport.
- The Den Bosch title was the second tour crown of Muller’s career, which began in 2001. The first also came in 2017, when he won the Australian Open tune-up in Sydney. In addition, he reached the final at the clay-court event in Estoril, making him one of four men (Lucas Pouille, Alex Zverev and Novak Djokovic) to reach finals on three different surfaces this year.
- Muller’s Grand Slam breakthrough came at the 2008 US Open. He qualified for the main draw and then stormed to the quarterfinals, defeating Tommy Haas, No. 18 seed Nicolas Almagro and No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko before falling to eventual champion Roger Federer. His run to the quarters matches the best finish by a qualifier in recorded US Open history.
- He had earlier made a splash in his first US Open main draw, in 2005, when he upset No. 4 seed Andy Roddick in three tiebreaks in the opening round.
- Muller has improved with age. He finished in the year-end Top 50 for the first time in 2014, then repeated the feat in 2015 and 2016 and is up to a career-best ranking heading into Wimbledon. He also finished in the year-end Top 100 in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2012.
They Said It!!
“It’s true that I’m one of the older guys on tour, but I’m having my best time this year. I’ve been injury-free the past few years and able to play a full schedule, so that has helped me a lot.” – Muller, during his run to the Den Bosch title
