Gilles Muller ousts Marinko Matosevic to enter pre-quarters – BB&T Atlanta Open 2012
Luxembourgian star, Gilles Muller, trashed the Australian contender, Marinko Matosevic, in straight sets at the BB&T Atlanta Open 2012 on Monday. He recorded a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory against the world number 73 to power into the second round at this ATP World Tour 250 series event held in Johns Creek, United States.
The left-handed Luxembourgian fended off early resistance to outsmart Matosevic in one hour and 51 minutes. Battling each other for the first time, Muller not only took lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against the Aussie but also secured a spot in the round of 16 at this outdoor hard court tournament.
Muller made a sloppy start at the Atlantic Station and suffered the first blow in the fifth game to trail at 2-3. However, he quickly counter-attacked and snatched his break back in the very next game. The Luxembourgian then stayed focused and not only took the set to a tie-breaker but prevailed in it to click the opener with a 7-6(5) success.
Ranked 63rd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Muller improved his game in the follow-up set and earned the coveted break in the third game to leap to a 3-1 lead. Apart from levelling the scores at 3-3, the Luxembourgian got the breakthrough in the ninth game and sealed the victory with a 6-4 score line.
All in all, the Luxembourgian fired 14 aces and brushed off seven out of nine breakpoints he came across to conquer Matosevic. Muller also jolted down a better first serve share of 66 per cent as compared to his rival’s 62 per cent and amazingly marked 37 out of 48 points on it.
Next challenge for the 29-year-old is the second seed, Mardy Fish, who received a bye into the second round after being the top four players at this event.
The fifth seed, Kevin Anderson, faced a better fortune earlier that day. He swiped his entire serves after saving all three breakpoints he encountered and pocketed the match with a single break of serve in each set. The South African number one also hammered seven aces and sealed the match with 64 points.
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