Gilles Müller

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Gilles Müller
Country (sports)Luxembourg Luxembourg
ResidenceLeudelange, Luxembourg
Born (1983-05-09) 9 May 1983 (age 40)
Schifflange, Luxembourg
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro2001
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$ 4,835,420
Singles
Career record214–188 (53.2%)
Career titles2
Highest rankingNo. 26 (8 May 2017)
Current rankingNo. 26 (3 July 2017)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (2015)
French Open2R (2012, 2015)
WimbledonQF (2017)
US OpenQF (2008)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games3R (2016)
Doubles
Career record56–83
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 74 (1 May 2017)
Current rankingNo. 85 (3 July 2017)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (2016, 2017)
French Open1R (2005, 2006, 2013, 2015, 2016)
Wimbledon2R (2014, 2015)
US Open2R (2015, 2016)
Last updated on: 10 July 2017.

Gilles Müller (born 9 May 1983) is a Luxembourgish professional tennis player. He is the most successful male tennis player in the history of his country and has twice made the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. Residing in Leudelange but born and raised in Schifflange, Müller has won two titles on the ATP World Tour and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 26 on 8 May 2017. He is known for his powerful left-handed serve and excellent net skills.

Career

Junior tennis

In 2001, the year in which he would turn pro, Muller reached the final of the Boys' Singles at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, where he was defeated by Roman Valent of Switzerland, 6–3, 5–7, 3–6. Muller also won the Boys' Singles final at the 2001 US Open, defeating Taiwan's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, 7–6, 6–2. He finished the year 2001 as the world No. 1 junior, posting a singles record of 72–26 throughout his junior career.

2004–2005 and success against top players

Starting 2004 ranked 193, Muller had several victories over top players including Nicolas Lapentti at the Auckland Open, Andre Agassi in the semifinals of the 2004 Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C., Rafael Nadal in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon, and Andy Roddick in the first round of the 2005 US Open.[1]

Muller also led the Davis Cup team to a surprise victory against Finland in February 2004.[2][3]

2008: First Grand Slam quarterfinal

At the 2008 US Open, Muller, ranked 130 at the time, had to go through the qualification tournament. He reached the main draw and advanced to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career, including a win over fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko. He lost to both defending and eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets, 6–7, 4–6, 6–7.

2009–2013 and injuries

On January 19, 2009, Muller beat Spaniard Feliciano López, 6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 4–6, 16–14, in an epic four-hour, 24-minute match in the first round of the 2009 Australian Open. His run in the tournament would be ended in the third round by the eighth-seeded Argentine, Juan Martín del Potro.

Muller at the 2011 US Open

In September 2011, he advanced to the fourth round of the US Open, losing to Rafael Nadal, whom he had already lost to in the third round of Wimbledon earlier that same year.

Müller registered his 100th singles win by defeating Australian Marinko Matosevic 7–6, 6–4 in Atlanta.[4] He also reached the Atlanta Open final, losing to Andy Roddick, 6–1, 6–7, 2–6, after the American came back from one set and one break down to win what would be his last final on the ATP tour.[5]

Muller's final match in 2013 was at the 2013 French Open where he lost in round 1 to Roberto Bautista Agut. He finished the year at No. 368 in the world rankings after missing the second half of the season with an elbow injury.[6][7]

2014: Back inside the Top 50

In January, Muller returned to playing tennis and competed mostly on the Challenger Tour, winning five titles.

Muller qualified for Wimbledon where he lost to Roger Federer in the second round.

Muller lost in the first round at the US Open to Paul-Henri Mathieu 7–6, 5–7, 6–7, 7–6, 1–6.

Muller lost to Federer in the first round of the 2014 Swiss Indoors before falling in the qualifying rounds of the Paris Masters. He finished 2014 with a ranking of No. 47 and was elected Luxembourg's Sportsman of the Year.

2015: Breaking top 40

Muller began 2015 at the Aircel Chennai Open, where he made the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka. He then competed in the Sydney International losing in the semifinals to Viktor Troicki, the eventual champion. He put together his best Australian Open campaign to date, losing in the fourth round to world No. 1 and eventual champion Novak Djokovic in 4–6, 5–7, 5–7. His performance during the entire month saw him crack the top 40 for the first time in his career on February 2.[7]

He had a strong showing in Rotterdam, defeating David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov, before losing to Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. Because he didn't defend his titles on the challenger tour, he subsequently fell out of the top 50 for the first time of the year on May 11.

Muller had a strong start to the grass court season, reaching the semifinals of the Topshelf Open as well as the quarterfinals at Queen's, beating defending champion Dimitrov for the second time in two meetings since the beginning of the year. He then lost to eventual champion Andy Murray.

This was followed up by a semifinals appearance at the Atlanta, where he eventually lost to Marcos Baghdatis in three sets 7–6, 3–6, 6–7.

He also reached the quarterfinals of the Moselle Open in addition to the semifinals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships.

Muller finished the year with a world ranking of No. 38 and was elected Luxembourg's Sportsman of the Year for the second year in a row.

2016: Fifth and sixth ATP finals

He started 2016 by reaching the semifinals of both the Sydney International and the 2016 Garanti Koza Sofia Open.

At the 2016 Ricoh Open, he reached the final, losing to the defending champion Nicolas Mahut in straight sets. At the 2016 Aegon Open Nottingham, he reached the semifinals, falling to second-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.

He advanced to the final of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, losing to second-seeded Ivo Karlović in three sets.

Muller represented Luxembourg in singles at the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning in the first round against Jerzy Janowicz and then beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round before losing to Roberto Bautista Agut 4–6, 6–7.

At the 2016 Swiss Indoors, Muller defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the first round and then went on to reach the semifinals, falling to Kei Nishikori in three sets.

2017: Career-best year

Muller won his maiden ATP World Tour title at the 2017 Sydney International after having lost in the men's doubles final of the 2017 Brisbane International less than a week earlier, playing alongside Sam Querrey.

He also made the final of Estoril, losing to Pablo Carreño Busta in what was his first ATP final played on clay. This resulted in him additionally reaching a career-high singles ranking of 26.

Then, at the 2017 Ricoh Open aged 34, Muller would set up the oldest ATP World Tour tournament singles final in 41 years against Ivo Karlović, aged 38.[8] He won the match in two straight tiebreaks (7–6, 7–6), claiming his second ATP World Tour title in the process.

Despite being ranked 26 in the world, Muller's excellent form on grass in the last 12 months saw him earn a seeding of sixteenth at Wimbledon. Muller defeated Rafael Nadal in a fourth round five-set thriller winning in the final set (6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 15–13) in 4 hours and 48 minutes, therefore progressing to the quarterfinals.[9]

National representation

Davis Cup

Muller has competed in 30 ties since his first nomination in 2000. Out of 71 matches he has won 54 and lost 17, which makes him Luxembourg's most successful Davis Cup player.

ATP career finals

Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runners-up)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–6)
Titles by Surface
Hard (1–3)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (1–2)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. August 16, 2004 Washington Open, United States Hard Australia Lleyton Hewitt 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 2. July 25, 2005 Los Angeles Open, United States Hard United States Andre Agassi 4–6, 5–7
Runner-up 3. July 22, 2012 Atlanta Open, United States Hard United States Andy Roddick 6–1, 6–7(2–7), 2–6
Runner-up 4. June 12, 2016 Rosmalen Championships, Netherlands Grass France Nicolas Mahut 4–6, 4–6
Runner-up 5. July 17, 2016 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, United States Grass Croatia Ivo Karlović 7–6(7–2), 6–7(5–7), 6–7(12–14)
Winner 1. January 14, 2017 Sydney International, Australia Hard United Kingdom Daniel Evans 7–6(7–5), 6–2
Runner-up 6. May 7, 2017 Estoril Open, Portugal Clay Spain Pablo Carreño Busta 2–6, 6–7(5–7)
Winner 2. June 18, 2017 Rosmalen Championships, Netherlands Grass Croatia Ivo Karlović 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4)

Doubles: 2 (2 runners-up)

Legend (Doubles)
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–2)
Titles by Surface
Hard (0–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. August 2, 2015 BB&T Atlanta Open, Atlanta, United States Hard United Kingdom Colin Fleming United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan 		6–4, 6–7(2–7), [4–10]
Runner-up 2. January 8, 2017 Brisbane International, Brisbane, Australia Hard United States Sam Querrey Australia Thanasi Kokkinakis
Australia Jordan Thompson 		6–7(7–9), 4–6

Other titles

ATP Challengers and ITF Futures

Singles: 15

Challengers (11)
Futures (4)
List of titles
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
1. April 9, 2001 Kuwait City, Kuwait Hard Chile Hermes Gamonal 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(8–6)
2. February 11, 2002 Glasgow, United Kingdom Hard Germany Maximilian Abel 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–3)
3. April 22, 2002 Montego Bay, Jamaica Hard France Julien Cassaigne 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
4. August 26, 2002 Florianópolis, Brazil Clay Brazil Rodrigo Monte 3–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1
1. July 21, 2003 Valladolid, Spain Hard Spain Iván Navarro 6–4, 6–3
2. April 19, 2004 Napoli, Italy Clay France Arnaud Di Pasquale 7–6(9–7), 6–7(1–7), 6–1
3. June 28, 2004 Córdoba, Spain Hard Spain Nicolás Almagro 6–1, 6–2
4. April 7, 2008 Humacao, Puerto Rico Hard Peru Iván Miranda 7–5, 7–6(7–2)
5. May 26, 2008 Izmir, Turkey Hard Denmark Kristian Pless 7–5, 6–3
6. June 5, 2011 Nottingham, Great Britain Grass Germany Matthias Bachinger 7–6(7–4), 6–2
7. April 2, 2014 Guadalajara, Mexico Hard United States Denis Kudla 6–2, 6–2
8. April 27, 2014 Shenzen, China Hard Slovakia Lukas Lacko 7–6(7–4), 6–3
9. May 4, 2014 Taipei, Taiwan Carpet Australia John-Patrick Smith 6–3, 6–3
10. May 11, 2014 Gimcheon, South Korea Hard Japan Tatsuma Ito 7–6(7–5), 5–7, 6–4
11. July 20, 2014 Recanati, Italy Hard Serbia Ilija Bozoljac 6–1, 6–2

Doubles: 4

Challengers (3)
Futures (1)
List of titles
No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents Score
1. August 6, 2001 Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Clay Luxembourg Mike Scheidweiler Canada Steve Adamson
Netherlands Raoul Snijders 		6–4, 6–3
1. June 21, 2004 Andorra la Vella, Andorra Hard Pakistan Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi Mexico Santiago González
Mexico Alejandro Hernández 		6–3, 7–5
2. September 12, 2010 Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France Hard France Édouard Roger-Vasselin Latvia Andis Juška
Latvia Deniss Pavlovs 		6–0, 2–6, [13–11]
3. September 30, 2012 Orléans, France Hard Czech Republic Lukáš Dlouhý Belgium Xavier Malisse
United Kingdom Ken Skupski 		6–2, 6–7(5–7), [10–7]

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

Current till 2017 Wimbledon Championships

Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 SR W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 1R 1R 2R 2R Q1 3R A 2R 1R 1R A 4R 2R 2R 0 / 11 10–11
French Open A A A Q1 Q2 1R 1R Q1 A 1R A Q2 2R 1R A 2R 1R 1R 0 / 8 2–8
Wimbledon A A A A Q1 3R 1R 2R Q2 1R Q3 3R 1R A 2R 1R 2R QF 0 / 10 11–10
US Open A A A Q1 Q1 2R 1R Q1 QF A A 4R 2R A 1R 1R 1R 0 / 8 9–8
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 3–4 1–4 2–2 4–1 2–3 0–0 6–3 2–4 0–2 1–2 4–4 2–4 5–3 0 / 37 32–37
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters A A A A Q1 3R 1R A A A A A 2R 1R A 2R 2R 3R 0 / 7 5–7
Miami Masters A A A A 1R 1R 1R Q1 Q1 1R A A 2R 1R A 2R 1R 3R 0 / 9 2–9
Monte Carlo Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R 2R 0 / 2 1–2
Madrid Masters NH A A Q1 A A A Q1 A A A A A A 1R A 2R 0 / 2 1–2
Rome Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A Q2 A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
Canada Masters A A A A A Q2 Q1 A A A A A A A A 3R 2R 0 / 2 3–2
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A Q1 A A A A Q1 A A A A 1R A 0 / 1 0–1
Shanghai Masters Not Masters Series A A A A A A 1R A 0 / 1 0–1
Paris Masters A A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A Q2 A 2R 0 / 2 1–2
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–2 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–2 0–2 0–0 2–6 3–5 4–4 0 / 26 13–26
National Representation
Summer Olympics A Not Held A Not Held A Not Held 2R Not Held 3R NH 0 / 2 3–2
Davis Cup Z2 Z2 Z2 Z1 Z1 Z1 Z1 Z1 Z2 A Z3 Z2 Z2 Z2 Z2 Z2 A A 0 / 0 34–11
Win–Loss 3–0 2–3 3–0 2–1 3–1 1–2 2–0 1–3 2–0 0–0 5–0 3–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 0 / 2 37–13
Career Statistics
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Career
Tournaments 0 0 1 1 8 21 20 3 6 9 2 11 21 8 6 24 24 15 180
Titles / Finals 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 2 2 / 3 2 / 8
Hard Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 3–0 1–2 12–8 13–13 10–10 2–5 5–4 4–5 1–1 15–11 14–14 4–4 3–5 25–18 22–17 11–7 145–124
Clay Win–Loss 3–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 4–5 3–5 0–0 2–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 4–2 0–4 2–0 3–3 0–2 5–4 28–28
Grass Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 3–3 0–4 1–1 0–1 1–3 1–1 2–1 4–5 0–0 1–1 5–3 13–5 11–2 42–31
Carpet Win–Loss 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 0–1 Discontinued 3–6
Overall Win–Loss 3–0 2–3 3–1 2–2 13–9 21–23 13–20 3–6 7–6 5–9 2–2 17–12 22–21 4–8 6–6 33–24 35–24 27–13 218–189
Year-end Ranking 840 535 255 195 69 76 105 117 95 248 134 54 67 368 47 38 34 54%

Doubles

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 SR W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A 1R A A A A A A A A 1R 2R 2R 0 / 4 2–4
French Open 1R 1R A A A A A A 1R A 1R 1R A 0 / 5 0–5
Wimbledon 1R 1R A A A A A A A 2R 2R 1R 1R 0 / 6 2–6
US Open 1R A A A A A A A A 1R 2R 2R 0 / 4 2–4
Win–Loss 0–3 0–3 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 2–4 2–4 1–1 0 / 19 6–19
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A SF 0 / 1 3–1
Miami Masters A A A A A A A A A A 1R A 2R 0 / 2 1–2
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Madrid Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Rome Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
Canada Masters A A A A A A A A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 4–4 0 / 6 4–6
Career Statistics
Titles / Finals 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 2
Year-end Ranking 158 244 221 331 740 372 758 242 664 214 139 153

Wins over top 10 players

Season 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total
Wins 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 3 12
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score Müller
Rank
2004
1. United States Andre Agassi 6 Washington, United States Hard SF 6–4, 7–5 124
2. Argentina David Nalbandian 10 Tokyo, Japan Hard 3R 7–6(7–4), 3–6, 6–4 78
2005
3. Spain Rafael Nadal 3 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grass 2R 6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 69
4. United States Andy Roddick 3 US Open, New York, United States Hard 1R 7–6(7–4), 7–6(10–8), 7–6(7–1) 68
2008
5. Russia Nikolay Davydenko 5 US Open, New York, United States Hard 4R 6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(12–10) 130
2013
6. France Richard Gasquet 10 Marseille, France Hard 1R 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–5) 70
2015
7. France Gilles Simon 10 Tokyo, Japan Hard QF 6–3, 6–4 43
2016
8. France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 9 Olympics, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Hard 2R 6–4, 6–3 37
9. Czech Republic Tomáš Berdych 9 Tokyo, Japan Hard 1R 7–6(9–7), 6–1 36
2017
10. Germany Alexander Zverev 10 Rosmalen, Netherlands Grass SF 7–6(7–5), 6–2 28
11. France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 10 Queen's Club, London, United Kingdom Grass 2R 6–4, 6–4 26
12. Spain Rafael Nadal 2 Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom Grass 4R 6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 15–13 26

References

  1. ^ "Gilles Muller - Biography". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Britain go into the unknown". BBC Sport. 5 April 2004.
  3. ^ "Luxembourg team profiles". BBC Sport. 7 April 2004.
  4. ^ "Gilles Muller brings up milestone over Aussie Marinko Matosevic". Herald Sun. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Roddick lifts Atlanta trophy". Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Aegon Championships 2015: Jamie Delgado plots friend Andy Murray's downfall as Gilles Müller knocks out holder Grigor Dimitrov". Independent. 18 June 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Australian Open: Novak Djokovic's downfall plotted by Jamie Delgado". BBC Sport. 25 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Karlovic, Muller set-up oldest final in 41 years". The Times of India. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Rafael Nadal beaten by Gilles Muller after an epic at Wimbledon 2017 – as it happened". Guardian. 10 July 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gilles Müller.


Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Luxembourg
Rio de Janeiro 2016 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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