Gilles Müller

Gilles Muller

Country (sports)	Luxembourg
Residence	Leudelange, Luxembourg
Born	(1983-05-09) 9 May 1983 Schifflange, Luxembourg
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	2001
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 3,328,680
Singles
Career record	157–155
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 34 (16 February 2015)
Current ranking	No. 42 (1 February 2016)[1]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	4R (2015)
French Open	2R (2012, 2015)
Wimbledon	3R (2005, 2011)
US Open	QF (2008)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2012)
Doubles
Career record	39–62
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 125 (14 September 2015)
Current ranking	No. 125 (1 February 2016)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2016)
Wimbledon	2R (2014, 2015)
US Open	2R (2015)
Last updated on: 1 February 2016.

Gilles Müller (born 9 May 1983) is a Luxembourgish professional tennis player. He was a US Open quarterfinalist in 2008 and is the most successful male tennis player in the history of his country. He was born and raised in Schifflange and he resides in Leudelange. His career-high ATP singles ranking is World No. 34.

Career

Junior tennis

In 2001, the year Muller turned pro, he reached the final of the Boys' Singles at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, but was defeated by Swiss Roman Valent, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3. Later that year, Müller won the Boys' Singles final at the 2001 US Open by defeating Taiwanese Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, 7–6, 6–2. Müller finished the year 2001 as the World No. 1 junior, posting a singles record of 72–26 throughout his junior career.

2004/05: Success against top players

Remarkable results against top players were Müller's victories over Andre Agassi in the semifinals of the 2004 Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C., over Rafael Nadal in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon, and over Andy Roddick in the first round of the 2005 US Open.^[2]

2008: First Grand Slam quarterfinal

At the 2008 US Open Gilles Müller, then ranked 130, had to go through the qualification tournament. He reached the main draw, where he consecutively beat Laurent Recouderc, former No. 2 Tommy Haas, Nicolás Almagro, and fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, advancing to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career. He had not been sure that he would even qualify, and so he had not even booked a hotel room for the tournament. He then lost to defending champion and eventual winner Roger Federer, 6–7, 4–6, 6–7.

2009/2010: Injuries

On January 19, 2009, Müller beat Spaniard Feliciano López, 6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 4–6, 16–14, in an epic four-hour, twenty-four minute match in the first round of the 2009 Australian Open. Müller beat local favorite Bernard Tomic, 3–6, 6–1, 6–4, 6–2 in the second round, eventually losing in the third to eighth seed Juan Martín del Potro.

2011: US Open 4th Round

Muller at the 2011 US Open

In September 2011, he advanced to the fourth round of the US Open, beating Frenchman Édouard Roger-Vasselin, Latvian Ernests Gulbis, and Russian Igor Kunitsyn in the first three rounds. He then lost to Rafael Nadal, whom he had already faced and lost to in the third round of Wimbledon the same year.^[3]

2012: Third ATP final

Gilles Müller posted his 100th singles win by defeating Australian Marinko Matosevic (7–6 (7/5), 6–4) in Atlanta Open.^[4] He reached the finals of Atlanta open, losing to Andy Roddick, 6–1 6–7 2–6, which was notable for being Roddick's last professional final before his retirement later that year.^[5]

2013: Injury Time-out

Müller's final match in 2013 was at 2013 French Open where he lost in round 1 to Roberto Bautista Agut.

2014: Back in the Top 50

In January, Müller was ranked No.366. He returned to play and competed mostly on the challenger circuit, winning 5 titles. In June, he qualified for 2014 Wimbledon Championships where he lost to Roger Federer in round 2. He lost in round 1 at the US Open to Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6, 5-7, 6-7, 7-6, 1-6. In September, Müller returned to the ATP World Tour and lost at the 2014 Moselle Open in round 2 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in round 2 to Richard Gasquet at the 2014 ATP Shenzhen Open, and at the Japan Open to Gilles Simon. He lost to Roger Federer in round 1 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: Career-best year

Müller commenced 2015 at the Aircel Chennai Open, where he made the quarter finals, losing to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka. He then competed in the Sydney International losing in the semi finals to Viktor Troicki, also the eventual champion. He played his best Australian Open ever in singles, beating Roberto Bautista Agut and John Isner en route to the fourth round, where he lost to world number 1 and eventual champion Novak Djokovic in three competitive sets (4-6 5-7 5-7) in the pair's first encounter. His performance during the entire month saw him break the top 40 for the first time in his career on February 2nd.

After losing to Ričardas Berankis in his first match in Zagreb, he had another strong showing in Rotterdam, defeating David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov, before losing to Wawrinka in the quarter finals again. He then lost his first match in his next three tournaments, in Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami, though he won his two singles and his doubles match in the Davis Cup tie against Madagascar and reached the semi finals of the challenger in Irving. He only played three tournaments during the clay court season, reaching the quarter finals in Estoril before losing in the first round in Madrid and reaching the second round of the French Open for only the second time in his career, again losing to Novak Djokovic. Since he didn't defend his titles on the challenger tour, he fell out of the top 50 for the first time of the year on May 11th.

Müller had a strong start to the grass court season, reaching the semi finals of the Topshelf Open, eventually losing to David Goffin, and the quarter finals at Queen's, where he beat defending champion Grigor Dimitrov for the second time in two meetings since the beginning of the year, before falling to eventual champion Andy Murray. He carried his good form into Wimbledon, but was drawn against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round, losing to him in five sets (6-7 7-6 4-6 6-3 2-6).

His next tournament was Atlanta, where he had reached the semi finals or better in both his previous appearances. He reached the semi finals again, eventually losing to Marcos Baghdatis in three sets (7-6 3-6 6-7). Partnering Colin Fleming, and beating second seeds and defending champions Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock in the first round, he also reached his first ATP World Tour doubles final here, losing to the Bryan brothers (6-4 6-7 4-10). He then competed at the Citi Open, losing to Richard Gasquet in three sets in the second round, and at the Rogers Cup, where he reached the third round, defeating Gaël Monfils in the second before falling to Andy Murray.

He suffered a couple of first-round exits at the Western & Southern Open and the US Open, but rebounded for a quarter finals-run at the Moselle Open, falling to Gilles Simon, and a semi finals-run at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, where he defeated Kevin Anderson and Jérémy Chardy before avenging his loss the previous week in a 6-3 6-4 victory against Simon, recording his first top 10 win in two years. He then lost to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka. He lost to Gasquet again in the first round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, but reached another quarter final in Stockholm. After losing to eventual champion João Sousa in the first round of the Valencia Open, he withdrew out of his final tournament at the BNP Paribas Masters, citing fatigue.

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

2016

Müller launched his 2016 campaign as a seeded player at the Aircel Chennai Open, but lost in the second round to qualifier Thomas Fabbiano. He fared better at the Sydney International, where he reached the semi finals for a second straight year, beating up-and-comers Borna Ćorić and Dominic Thiem - also the tournament's second seed, and extending his domination over Jérémy Chardy to 3-0, but losing to Grigor Dimitrov.

Davis Cup

Müller has competed in 30 ties since his first nomination in 2000. He has won 54 matches and has lost 17 making him the most successful Luxembourgish Davis Cup player.

ATP career finals

Singles: 3 (0–3)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	August 16, 2004	Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Washington, United States	Hard	Lleyton Hewitt	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	July 25, 2005	Countrywide Classic, Los Angeles, United States	Hard	Andre Agassi	4–6, 5–7
Runner-up	3.	July 22, 2012	BB&T Atlanta Open, Atlanta, United States	Hard	Andy Roddick	6–1, 6–7(2–7), 2–6

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	August 2, 2015	BB&T Atlanta Open, Atlanta, United States	Hard	Colin Fleming	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–4, 6–7(2–7), [4–10]

Challengers and Futures

Singles

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

Doubles

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

Singles performance timeline

Current till 2016 Australian Open

Wins over top 10 players

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score
2004
1.	Andre Agassi	6	Washington, United States	Hard	SF	6–4, 7–5
2.	David Nalbandian	10	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	3R	7–6(7–4), 3–6, 6–4
2005
3.	Rafael Nadal	3	Wimbledon, London, England	Grass	2R	6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
4.	Andy Roddick	3	US Open, New York, United States	Hard	1R	7–6(7–4), 7–6(10–8), 7–6(7–1)
2008
5.	Nikolay Davydenko	5	US Open, New York, United States	Hard	4R	6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(12–10)
2013
6.	Richard Gasquet	10	Marseille, France	Hard	1R	2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
2015
7.	Gilles Simon	10	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	QF	6–3, 6–4

References

• Video interview (U.S. Open 2005)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gilles Müller.

• Gilles Müller at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Muller Recent Match Results
• Muller World Ranking History
• Luxembourg Men Recent Match Results