Gilles Muller on Monday prevailed in one of the most thrilling matches of the year, upending No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal in an instant classic, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13, to advance to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Here are five facts to know about the big-serving 34-year-old from Luxembourg:
- Monday’s victory was not Muller’s first over Nadal at Wimbledon. In fact, he defeated the Spaniard in the second round in 2005, in Nadal’s second trip to the All England Club. The Spaniard returned the favor six years later, topping Muller in the third round.
- Muller scored a second notable Grand Slam victory later in 2005, ousting No. 4 seed Andy Roddick in three tiebreaks in the first round of the US Open.
- With his victory Monday, Muller advanced to the second Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career. The first came at the 2008 US Open, when he qualified and defeated 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.
- Muller made the biggest jump in the Wimbledon seedings of any player, going from No. 26 in the world to seeded No. 16. The All England Club factors grass-court results from the past two years into its seeding system, 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.
