A Look at the Man Who Sent Roddick Packing
A Look at the Man Who Sent Roddick Packing
by Erin Bruehl
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Before he upset Andy Roddick in the first round of the US Open Tuesday night,
few people had probably heard of Gilles Muller. On Wednesday, however, he was
the talk of the Open. Everyone heard the No. 68 player in the world —and
unseeded here at the Open — had defeated the No. 3 player and No. 4 seed
Roddick in straight set tie-breaks, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (1). But many may
have wondered, just who is Gilles Muller?
As relatively unknown as he was before Tuesday's match, Muller, 22, from
Luxembourg, has defeated several top players before. He ousted French Open
champion Rafael Nadal in the third round of Wimbledon this year and last
year, he beat Andre Agassi in the semifinals in Washington. It was the first
appearance by a Luxembourg player in a tour final. With defeats of three of
the world's top players, it seems likely we have not heard the last or seen
the best yet from Muller.
He says the key for him to play well is to stay calm and not let mistakes
upset him, just as he did against Roddick.
"Sometimes I played matches and it was not going well in the first set; I got
so upset, I lost focus and everything," he said. "I lost the match because of
this. Some days there was the second Muller who was there and who calmed me
down. [Tuesday] I stayed calm the whole match. I think if I can play a whole
year like this, to be calm every match and to fight every match till the end,
I can win more matches than I did until now. "
He had 24 aces to 17 for Roddick and 65 winners to trump Roddick's 39.
Roddick tipped his cap to Muller, crediting him for his solid all-around play.
"The thing is, I can blame myself because I was in control and then I let him
back in," Roddick said. "To his credit, after that he really raised his level
and played a good match. In the first two tiebreakers, I felt like I didn't
play horrible ones - especially the second one, I felt like I played okay.
Bottom line, he stepped up and took the points."
It was certainly not a bad way to start his US Open debut, coming off his
first Grand Slam match victory in Wimbledon this year. He also became the
first man from Luxembourg to play in the US Open. In his second year on the
tour, he has yet to win a singles title but did become the first man from
Luxembourg to reach the Top 100 last summer after he defeated Agassi. He
faced Agassi once again earlier this summer, losing to him in the final at
Los Angeles.
And for his debut, he said he enjoyed playing in the spotlight of the night
session at Arthur Ashe.
"For sure is different to beat him [Roddick] here than to beat him somewhere
else," Muller said. "I mean, it's great to be out there at Arthur Ashe
Stadium, night session. I really enjoyed it. That was also my goal when I
went into the court. I told myself, "Don't be nervous, it's a big chance to
play there. The whole world is watching. I took advantage of that every
second I was out there."
Muller, like Roddick, is a former ITF Junior World Champion and won the US
Open junior title in 2001.
When Muller was in the junior ranks, he trained in Paris then in 2003 started
training at the Sanchez Casal Academy in Barcelona, Spain.
A day after his victory over Roddick, Muller and his doubles partner, Robby
Ginepri, of the United States, lost in straight sets in the first round of
men's doubles Wednesday to Frantisek Cermak and Leos Friedl of the Czech
Republic.
Muller plays for the third straight day on Thursday, this time in the second
round of men's singles where his opponent will be none other than his doubles
partner, Ginepri.
Muller says it is just part of tennis that sometimes you meet your doubles
partner in singles and while it is all business on the court, it doesn't
change their friendship.
"It happened already sometimes that you play your doubles partner," he said.
"It's not anything different than another match. On Thursday we cannot be
friends on the court, but then after we can go and drink one beer together."
And Muller's strategy is simply to once again, try to keep himself relaxed,
for Thursday and every subsequent match. He hopes that will be his secret to
moving up the ATP rankings.
"Of course, you cannot play every week unbelievable tennis," he said. "If you
stay focused every week, you fight every week, you're going to win some more
matches. That's making you improve in the ranking. Then finally you are there
where these guys are."
After defeating the No. 3 player in the world, it seems he is already well on
his way to moving up.
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